


The Quiet Fox

by TheBeardedOne



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 45,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27776764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeardedOne/pseuds/TheBeardedOne
Summary: A young Naruto accidentally saves Hinata from being kidnapped and gains the gratitude of the Hyuuga clan as well as knowledge of his heritage.(Written in narrated flashback format)
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

"…and we must insist that the mo… the brat be removed from the Shinobi lists at once!"

Sarutobi looked across at the sputtering council member, then back down at the large number of documents in the folder in front of him.

"Not only did he lie about who he was, he used the Yondaime Hokage's name to lie with! He needs to be taught a lesson! Exile is too little for the crimes he has committed!"

"And what crimes would those be?" a calm voice interjected and all eyes focused on the emotionless face of Hyuuga Hiashi. "I know of no crimes of that magnitude." He finished.

"That brat has enrolled as a Shinobi under false pretenses." Counciller Haruna said, her voice almost calm and reasonable compared to that of her colleague. "He used a false name and passed the test with a non-standard technique, bringing into question the standards that the Academy holds to. He has made a mockery of the Chunin exams and he has somehow stolen the Namikaze mansion and the grounds, claiming them through some strange skill, probably one linked to the circumstances of his birth…"

"That last one, I will admit, is partially true." Hiashi interjected. "It was indeed his birth that allowed him to enter the grounds of the Namikaze mansion and gain access to the vault of Namikaze scrolls. But he did not steal them. They were his. Please, continue."

Haruna glared at him, then inhaled sharply.

"How can you defend him? Everyone knows that because of him, your eldest daughter has been virtually disinherited in favor of her younger sister. She's always with him… _protecting_ him, if you can believe it! He must have used a genjutsu on her or something. We need to hand him over to Ibiki in order to find out…"

**SLAM!**

The sound of Hiashi's hands hitting the council table as he exploded onto his feet silenced everyone. Haruna froze in shock as she found herself pinned by Hiashi's gaze. Although his face remained expressionless, she could feel the hatred and killing intent radiating from him, hatred that was focused on her, and the two civilian Councillors that had tried to use the meeting to have a long-standing thorn in their sides removed.

For almost a minute, no-one moved, then Hiashi slowly settled back down into his seat.

"Hokage. Have you finished reading the documents I gave to you yet?"

"I have indeed." Sarutobi answered. "I accept their legality and the truthfulness of them. Who will take the role of Regent until he comes of age?"

"My brother will." Hiashi said. "And when Naruto-sama comes of age…"

"Naruto- _sama_!" Haruna almost screamed. "How can you call that bastard brat _sama_? He's a freak who needs to be killed because of that dem…"

Haruna's diatribe was halted by the sudden arrival of an ANBU behind her. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt the wire tighten slightly around her neck. Sarutobi looked at her for a moment, then waved the ANBU back.

"The subject is closed. Namikaze Naruto's claim has been approved. The Clan Re-Integration Act has been invoked. His fiancee is happy with the situation and is, by all accounts, pestering her elders for permission to marry him as soon as possible. He has learned many Jutsu from his tutors. I see no problem and, once this meeting is over, I will make the announcement myself. Although, judging from a few comments I heard on the way in, the news has probably spread across the entire village by now."

The civilians' silence was due to sheer shock. The Ninjas, most were silent from… satisfaction. Hiruzen hid a small smile.

_So Hiashi was right. They have seen beyond the Kyuubi, and know that the orphan they once despised has the potential to surpass his father, Namikaze Minoto._

_Maybe I can finally atone for my many errors. Hiashi, I owe you, and all your clan._

* * *

_._

The bath-house was crowded with Kunoichi. The steam from the hot springs rolled by as the crowd pressed round one specific individual, asking questions in rapid volleys, allowing no time to answer.

"…what's he like?... do you really share a bed?... what's the mansion like?... how did you two first meet?... how big is he?... how many jutsu does he know?... how many has he taught you?... how many have you taught him?"

"QUIET!"

The sudden shout caused all the women to fall silent and the target of their questioning nodded her thanks.

"Thank you, Ayame-san."

"No problems, Hinata-chan. Most of us know part of the story, about how he rescued you when that Iwa ninja tried to kidnap you when you were both six. How he tricked the mob that had injured him and was trying to kill him into attacking the ninja while he dragged you away and how he accidentally bled on the security-seal of the Namikaze gate, thus letting him drag you inside and cluing you, and the Hyuugas, into who his parents were. So, rather than have us put together the wrong story, why not tell us what happened _after_ he rescued you from that kidnapper?"

Hinat nodded and settled herself down onto a cushion that Sakura had thoughtfully provided for her. Taking a small sip of the fruit juice handed to her by Ino, she began to talk.

"As Ayame-san said, I was kidnapped as a small child and Naruto rescued me. He had been thrown out of the orphanage a few months previously and had been searching for somewhere to sleep, and some food, when the mob chased him. Him leading them to the ninja was an accident, he headbutted the ninja right in the groin."

A burst of laughter echoed round the springs.

"Gaki always was a rock-head." Anko crowed. Hinata smiled and waved for quiet.

"Anyway, the ninja dropped me as the mob appeared and Naruto managed to make them think that he was going to protect him. As the mob attacked the ninja, Naruto quickly dragged me down the street and round the corner, but he was bleeding heavily. When he reached the Namikaze mansion, he pushed on the gate, and was astonished when the gate opened for him. He dragged me in, closed the gate and got me into the house. And that, ladies, is where my story starts…"


	2. Hinata

I woke up slowly, feeling rather groggy. For several minutes I just lay there, warm and unable to really think, then I started to notice things.

I wasn't in my room.

The walls were the wrong color. I was lying on something warm, something that… that was breathing, that was hugging me and… and I was hugging it!

Any vestiges of sleep vanished in that instant and I jolted out of the embrace of the person holding me. Pressing against the wall, I stared at my… kidnapper? Rescuer? I didn't know.

He was small. Yes, he was about my height, but his ripped and tattered T-shirt showed that his ribs were showing, he obviously hadn't been eating properly. His trousers were also torn and his feet were wrapped in rags obviously intended to act as shoes. With me no longer in his arms, he had curled up, almost as if he was expecting to be hit and his eyes were open and staring at me.

I had never seen such eyes.

Blue. Blue as the clearest sky, deep as the ocean. His eyes showed pain, sadness, fear, and a determination I had never seen before. I didn't recognize it at the time, but they were the eyes of someone who had lived through a thousand hells and refused to crumble.

And they were looking at me.

"H… hello?"

Looking back, I can only curse myself. Hello. A lame, stuttering hello. This was the man who had rescued me. Who had prevented me from being taken to Iwa and used as a brood mare for Byakugan babies, who had saved my eyes from being ripped out and implanted into a murderer. And I said Hello. With a stammer.

Kami, I was pathetic back then.

Anyway, back to the story.

He stared at me for a few minutes before he sat up. By his side was a jacket, obviously too big for him, and from its position, it was what he had used to cover us both the previous night as he had hugged me to keep us both warm.

Not that I needed any more warmth at that point. If I had blushed any harder, I would have caught on fire. I mean, he was _gorgeous_! Blue eyes you could stare at forever, hair that underneath the mud and dirt was the richest gold I had ever seen, flawless complexion and those three cute whisker-marks on each cheek!

Okay, I'm babbling. He was cute then, and he's handsome now. And he's mine. Well.. mine and… I'll get to that later.

You shouldn't let me get distracted like that.

"Hello."

My breath caught as he replied to my greeting. Even his voice was cute, but he seemed… scared. Why? Was he scared of… of me?

"Where are we? What happened?"

I had more questions, but something inside me was shouting that if I gave in to panic, I'd scare him more than he already was. Admittedly, I am protective. I don't like hurting people, or giving commands unless I really, really have to. I'm a nurturer, a protector. And all my instincts were screaming that the boy before me needed protecting.

"We're in some empty house, a bad man was trying to take you away. I managed to get you here, but I fell asleep before I could find a bed… sorry…"

"Sorry?" I repeated, feeling shocked. "Why are you sorry? You… you saved me! I should be apologizing to you!"

The boy just stared at me and I changed my posture so that I could bow to him.

"I am Hyuuga Hinata of the Hyuuga clan. You have almost certainly saved my life and the secrets of my clan. I owe you an Eye Debt."

"A what?"

The total innocence of his question floored me. I mean, an Eye Debt is something known to all Hyuugas, but he was an outsider. I had to explain.

"An Eye Debt is a debt owed to one who has saved the clan from disaster, or has saved a Hyuuga from certain death or worse. You saved me from one who was carrying me off, one who was trying to steal the Byakugan and its secrets. Yuou prevented that, so I owe you an Eye Debt. May I know your name?"

"Naru…"

A sudden growling noise interrupted him and I stared at him, then at his stomach, which had protested loudly. Rising to my feet, I walked over and bowed deeply to him, then pulled him up to his feet.

"The let me make a start on the payment I owe you, Naru-Sama. Perhaps we can find a kitchen in this place. Do not worry, as a Hyuuga, I can afford to repay the cost of what we eat. Come on."

[0]

After several wrong turns, we found ourselves in the kitchen, but there was no food there. I started opening the cupboards, finding plates, chopsticks, knives and other things, but no food.

"Why are there scrolls here?"

Scrolls? In the kitchen? I walked over to where Naru was staring into the pantry, a perplexed expression on his face. Peeping over his shoulder, I saw… racks and racks of scrolls. Easing past him, I picked one up.

"Soup, miso? This one as well, why would you need more than one recipe for miso soup? Ramen, lots of those, sorted by flavours, but… wait a minute…"

I unrolled one of the scrolls and saw not a recipe, but a seal! I quickly rolled it up again and looked round, finding something that looked interesting.

"Meal for two, breakfast, full. I wonder…"

Grabbing the scroll, I placed it on the worktop and unrolled it. Placing my hands on it, I thought back to what I had seen my father doing once and I pushed some of my chakra into it.

"Wow!"

I nodded in agreement. The seal had vanished and there, spread out on plates in front of us, was a veritable banquet. Eggs, bacon, bread rolls, sauces, loads of things all still piping hot, exactly as they would have been when the unknown person had placed them in the scroll. I carefully tried one of the rolls.

Bliss.

"Is it… real?"

"It is." I said with a wide smile. "Whoever owns this house must be a seal expert. Eat up!"

Naru needed no encouragement and he tore into the food, as did I. Hey, being drugged makes you hungry, after all.

* * *

.

"I think I ate too much. I need to sit down."

I ignored Naru as I looked around the bare room. A small cupboard in the corner caught my attention and I opened it, finding more scrolls.

"Hmmm, table, vase... settee! This will do."

Placing the scroll on the ground, I unrolled it and placed my fingers on the end, channeling my chakra again.

_POP!_

A settee appeared above the now-blank scroll and I promptly sat in its comfortable embrace. A moment later, Naru joined me and I gently pulled him towards me, letting him rest against my shoulder.

"You're really good with that, Hyuuga-sama."

"You saved my life, Naru, call me Hinata."

Naru nodded, then I felt him frown. "Hinata, please don't be angry but my name isn't Naru. It's Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto."

I blinked. I knew that name. I had heard other kids speaking about him, about how their parents told them that he was evil, possessed, to be avoided.

A monster… who was snuggled up against me and almost asleep.

"You'll always be Naru to me." I said, adjusting my position so that I was leaning slightly against him. "My Naru-sama and Naru-kun, the one who saved me."

"Naru-kun?" He repeated quietly. "I like that… Hina-chan…"

I noted the tentativeness of the last part and gave him a quick hug. "Hina-chan. I like that, Naru-kun. Now, let's rest up after that great breakfast, and then we'll find out where we are."

* * *

.

"This is the Namikaze Mansion!" I said as we looked up at it from near the gate. "It's the best-protected building in Konoha! Sannin Jaraiya couldn't get in! How are we here?"

Naru gave me an odd look. "I just pushed at the gate and it opened."

He just pushed at the gate.

what.

I stared at him in near-shock.

"You just… This is the Namikaze mansion! Home of the Yondaime Hokage, the greatest seal-master in the world, the user of the Rasengan and the Hiraishin! The Yellow Flash, and you… just… you…"

I stared at him as a suspicion dawned. Namikaze Mimoto had been called the Yellow Flash because of his golden hair, the same colour as Naru's would have been had it been clean. This was the Fourth Hokage's house, protected by the Fourth Hokage's seals, yet Naru had passed through them as if they hadn't existed.

Or they had recognized him.

His hair. The seals. His face. If I ignored the whisker-marks, the face looked remarkably like a younger version of the face carved into the mountain.

"Namikaze Naruto…" I whispered and he looked at me with an odd expression on his face.

His dirty, smudged face.

"What did you mean by that?" He asked. Kami, he looked even cuter when he was confused.

"I need to check, but I think I know who your dad was." I said, then I let a commanding tone enter my voice. "But first, we are going to find you some new clothes and clean you up. Come on."

I ignored his protests as I dragged him back into the house.

* * *

.

"…this seems wrong." Naru whined as I led him to the bathhouse, a pile of previously scroll-sealed towels and bathing supplies in my arms and some clothing in his arms. I ignored him and we entered the bath-house, which was far warmer than I had expected.

"Hmm, I guess Minoto had the builders tap into the same hot springs that we use." I said slowly. "Good, there'll be plenty of hot water and we can have a good, long soak. Now strip!"

Naru stared at me as I started to shed my clothes, then he spun away from me, his face red.

"Don't be such a baby." I said firmly. "Clothes off, you need to get clean. Now."

Naru twitched but didn't move, so I decided to take control. Walking over, I ignored his frantic protests and attempts to resist as I removed his rags and pulled him under one of the showers. Handing him a flannel and a bar of soap, I gave him a firm glare before moving under the next shower and starting to scrub off the accumulated dirt. After a few moments, I looked up and saw that he hadn't moved, but was staring at the soap and flannel in confusion.

He didn't know how to wash himself. No-one had taught him.

Kami, this was going to be even more embarrassing than I had thought.

Rinsing off the suds, I walked over to him and took the soap and flannel off him. I rubbed the soap against the flannel to get some suds, then put the flannel back in his unresistant hand. Gently holding his wrist, I made him rub the flannel against his arm.

"Like that, but all over. That dirt is not good for you, you need to wash it off and get clean. I'll help you with your hair in a moment."

Naru stared at me, then blushed and looked away, hiding his embarrassment by starting to wash himself. I turned back to my shower to hide my blush. I was in a bath-house with a boy.

Nude.

I fought down my embarrassment, grabbed the shampoo and started to lather my hair. Behind me, I heard Naru started to scrub the dirt off his body and I thought about what I had seen.

He had no scars and his bruises were fading far more rapidly than normal, but he was too thin. His ribs were easy to count, his hair had obviously not been washed in months…

It was obvious that no-one had been looking after him.

But I owed him an Eye-debt.

I would look after him. No matter what.

* * *

.

"…oh, this is so relaxing…"

I nodded slightly at Naru's comment. Anything more would have taken energy that I didn't think I had since we were both relaxing in the hot pool, the topmost of four, each smaller than the one below.

Smaller and hotter.

The lowest was obviously a swimming pool. It was large and well-shaped with a deep area perfect for diving or jumping into from the rocky ridge that made that side. The other three were far smaller and had comfortable seats carved into their sides, seats designed for different things. The second pond had a bench around the edge, letting people sit and talk, while the other pond had the carved seats shaped to allow a more relaxed posture. And the pool we were in had the fewest but most comfortable seats.

Even if they were solid rock.

I looked over at the limp blond hair and smiled at the closed eyes and relaxed expression that Naru had. His face was red from the heat and like me, he was almost completely relaxed. The hot water wouldn't let us remain tense.

"Naru… my clan will be looking for me. They've probably caught that ninja by now."

Naru opened his eyes and looked sadly at me.

"You're leaving?"

I shook my head firmly. "I won't leave you, Naru-kun. I promise. I want you to come with me. When my family learns that you saved me, they'll understand."

Naru looked uncertain. "Th… they'll call me a monster, they'll…"

"And if they do, I'll leave them." I said firmly. "If they do not thank you for saving me, they don't deserve to have me. You do."

"You… mean that?"

My breath caught at the plaintive tone of voice. No-one had cared for him, no-one had taught him, and yet he was still caring enough to rescue a total stranger from a ninja that could have killed him with a single blow, and he had done so while pursued by a mob.

"Yes, Naro-kun. I mean that." I said as I moved to sit by his side. Gently, I placed my arm around his too-thin shoulders and pulled him towards me, using my spare hand to guide his head onto my shoulder.

"As long as you want me, Naru-kun, I promise I'll be there for you." I whispered. "I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

"Aha! Here you are, my eternal rival!"

Kakashi continued to stare at the memorial stone for another moment, then he turned his head slightly.

"I'm sorry, Gai. Did you say something?"

"Damn your hip and too cool attitude, Kakashi!"

Kakashi hid a slight, sad smile and turned back to face the memorial stone.

"Well, you found me, but I'm not in the mood for any challenges, Gai."

Gai nodded and stood beside Kakashi, his expression sober.

"Did you hear? Your sensei's son is alive."

"I heard." Kakashi said softly. "I failed him, you know. I should have been there for him, but the pain… I ran away from my responsibilities. I should have taken him in, adopted him, protected him from the village.

"But I didn't."

The silence seemed to deepen as both men stared at the memorial stone.

"I don't think he blames you. And you were there for him. While you were in ANBU, you protected him."

"But I should have done more." Kakashi said quietly and Gai hid a wince as he heard the sorrow and guilt tearing at Kakashi's heart. "I should have done, but I was… too… too much of a damned coward. I ran away rather than face my pain. Just like I always do."

Gai stared at Kakashi, his normal cheerful expression replaced with concern.

"Kakashi, we all made mistakes. You, me, Jaraiya, Sarutobi, we all screwed up."

"Hiashi didn't."

"He did." Gai said. "I've talked to him, comes with being Neji's sensei. He ignored Naru until the kid saved his daughters life and incurred an Eye Debt. When he found out who Naru's father was, he blamed himself for not realizing earlier. Did everything he could to make amends. Kept Naru's secret, helped him get into the Academy… hell, trained him in Jyuuken. He's the only non-Hyuuga to know that style. Well, those styles, he created a counter and the Hyuugas had to come up with a group of new styles. Incurred a second Eye Debt that way. First person ever to incur two of those."

Kakashi sighed and Gai placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Stop blaming yourself, Kakashi. We all thought that Minoto's family had all died in the attack. We believed Danzo when he said that the Kyuubi had been sealed into a clan-less orphan. We screwed up, yes, but we have a chance to make it right now."

"Sarutobi knew."

Gai nodded. "And it almost killed him to keep that secret. If anyone had found out, Naruto would have been the target of half the ninjas on the continent. They would have tried to kill him for being his father's son, or grabbed him as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki to claim his power. And as for the fight among the clans over who would get Minato's son and thus his estate… Sarutobi did what he thought was best for Konoha."

"But not for Naruto."

Gai shook his head. "He tried. He had Naruto placed in the orphanage, but the rumours of his burden were too widespread. Much as I hate to admit it, when Naruto vanished, I felt… relieved. I had learned about what he was, and what he was going through. I was grateful that he would no longer suffer."

"He didn't." Kakashi said, humour breaking through his guilt. "He came out with far, far more than anyone could hope to claim, and with the entire Hyuuga clan backing him up."

"Not just the Hyuuga clan." Gai chuckled. "Little gaki really proved himself. He'll become Hokage, and he will prove himself better than his dad."

Kakashi nodded. "He might. He just might."

"No, my eternal friend and rival, he will."

* * *

.

"Hyuuga Hizashi-San!"

Hizashi turned round and his eyes creased slightly in a smile that didn't touch the rest of his face. "Iruka-san. How may I help you?"

Iruka jogged up to the Hyuuga and nodded respectfully. "I was going over some old paperwork and I realized how little I actually know about Naru… I mean Namikaze Naruto. I mean, he was rookie of the year, but his true identity came as a real shock to me. And what he did during the exams… how powerful is he?"

Hiashi resumed his journey, motioning for Iruka to follow.

"He is strong. He single-handedly created the method that removes the advantage of Jyuuken, and somewhat amusingly he meant it solely as a training aid to help Hinata-san to grow stronger. He studied as hard as he could to grow strong, so that he could live up to Hinata's belief in him, as she studied so that she could match his image of her. Once we got him started down the path of knowledge, getting rid of his bad habits and persuading him to eat healthily, he soaked up information like the desert soaks up water. Our hardest task was persuading him to slow down."

Iruka nodded slowly. "I see. His skills are… extraordinary."

"He has the entire Namikaze library to draw upon."

The duo proceeded down the street in thoughtful silence, then Iruka spoke again.

"So, how didyou first meet him?"

"An interesting story." Hizashi smiled. "It was two days after Hinata had been kidnapped. We had found the ninja, bruised, battered and barely alive, and discovered what his mission had been. We knew he was working alone, but there was no sign of Hinata, and no trails into the forest. We had resorted to searching all of Konoha to find her. Most of the clan were combing the city while I remained in our clan-house, correlating reports and noting areas searched on the map when…"


	4. Hizashi

"Uncle Hizashi?"

I froze as the familiar voice spoke, then slowly looked up. Despite being one of the wielders of the Byakugan, I almost couldn't believe my eyes.

In the door stood Hinata, looking almost unharmed. There was a fading bruise on her cheek, but other than that, she was alright. Somehow she had got new clothing, a dress a few sizes too large for her and a jacket which hung off her shoulders. I had no idea how or where she had gained those items, but I didn't care.

"Hinata-sama! Are you alright? What happened? Where have you been?"

"I'm alright." Hinata smiled. "I was rescued by someone that I'd like you to meet. I owe him an Eye Debt, and I will repay it."

"I would like to meet the one who rescued you." I said, ringing a small bell to summon one of the other Branch House members. Hinata nodded and reached sideways, then stepped forwards, pulling a small boy through the door.

Like Hinata, the boy was clad in clothing too big for him. A pair of dark shorts just showed under a jacket that he wore zipped up, its collar raised so that his eyes were visible over the top, but his nose and mouth were hidden. His bright gold hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, although several strands had escaped, and his feet were shod in sandals at least three sizes too big.

"Uncle, this is Naru. He's an orphan who saved me and took me to a safe place where we recovered."

I nodded and turned to the girl who had answered my summons.

"Bring tea, and food. And pass the word that Hinata-sama has returned, along with her rescuer."

The girl bowed and seemed to vanish from the room and I turned back to Hinata, who had a resolute expression on her face.

"Naru, as Hinata has told you, the Hyuuga clan owes you a great debt. If you wish, we will take you in as one of our own and…"

"No."

I blinked at Hinata's interruption, then raised an eyebrow in query.

"Uncle, what I am going to tell you is a secret. Only you or my father can know. And Naru is not going to join the Hyuugas, that is part of the secret."

I blinked, then looked at the nervous boy. What could be so important that Hinata would refuse to let us bring him into the Branch Family as a marriage prospect for one of the Hyuuga girls? He had proven his bravery and courage, what in Kami's name did she have in mind?

I suddenly realized that the tea and food had been brought in while I was thinking. I waved the girl away and activated the privacy seals once the door was closed.

"We are secure."

Hinata sat down and I poured the tea, handing her the first cup and the second to the boy. Hinata took a small sip and then looked straight at me.

"Uncle, I have reason to believe that Naru is the orphaned child of Namikaze Minoto. I have spent the last two nights in the Namikaze mansion, Naru was able to pass through the security seals effortlessly. Seals which defeated even the Hokage and Sannin Jaraiya."

For a moment, I could do nothing other than gape at her. It couldn't be true. All knew that the Yondaime Hokage's child had been killed during the Kyuubi attack, where the Yondaime Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi… in… a… newborn…

Oh hell.

Namikaze Minoto was known for not asking others to do what he would not have done himself. No-one had known his wife's name, but all knew of the child in whom the Kyuubi had been sealed. Uzumaki Naruto. If Hinata was right…

I looked hard at the boy who had lowered the zip to allow him to sip his tea. Yes, there were marks on his cheeks. Whisker-like marks. I could not see them all, but I would have bet every ryo I owned that there were three on each cheek. And now I looked, really looked, I could see the Fourth Hokage's features on the boy in front of me. Even his hair was the exact same color…

Oh _bloody_ hell.

She was right. I could see it myself. And she implied that the seals on the Namikaze mansion recognized him…

Oh Kami, what had we done? We had betrayed the Fourth Hokage's memory, we had abandoned and abused his son.

It wasn't one Eye Debt we owed him, it was _two_. One for saving Hinata, and one to atone for the actions of our clan.

"Uncle?"

I blinked a few times, then looked at Hinata, who was gazing questioningly at me.

"I… I need to be sure. I visited the Namikaze mansion when I was younger. Describe the main staircase."

"It's a wide spiral in the middle of the main hall, the front facing the entrance. It curves round a koi pond, we had to remove the dead fish, it'll need re-stocking, and after a full spiral it reaches the upper level."

"…I'm convinced." I said slowly. "I… You will need new clothing, Naru-sama. And since you may wish to hide your cheek-markings… I once worked in ANBU. I remember a colleague of mine named Tenzo, he had an unusual headpiece which might work. Tell the tailors his name, they'll make a similar one for you. Hinata will go with you. Hinata, with your permission, I'll tell your father what you told me. I can hold him down if he decides to act less than calmly."

Hinata nodded and I looked down, only to see all the food had gone.

What?

Glancing up, I saw Naru wipe a few crumbs off his chin and raise the zip again. Ah, so that was where it had all vanished.

"I'll give you a note that'll tell them to co-operate." I said, reaching for a sheet of parchment and a brush. "Use whatever materials you want."

"Wait." Hinata said. "I haven't finished. You see, I made a promise to Naru-kun…"

Naru- _kun_?

Oh bloody, _bloody_ hell. This was going to be one of _those_ days.

* * *

.

My brother's face was an absolute picture. I was sure that my expression had been just the same when Hinata had dropped her bombshells on me. After what seemed like an hour, he blinked and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So, to summarize. The Jinchuuriki is here and he rescued my daughter. She discovered he is the Fourth Hokage's son and they spent the last two nights in Minoto's mansion, during which time she declared she owed him an Eye Debt and fell in love with him. And vice versa on the love thing."

I nodded, keeping my unholy glee concealed. Hiashi gave another sigh and started to rub his forehead.

"And since he is the Yondaime's son, we have been among the morons who betrayed Minoto's legacy and need to make up for it, meaning we owe him not one Eye Debt, but two, at the same time, no less."

I nodded again and Hiashi slumped.

"Any ideas, brother? I can see no way out of this."

"I have been watching them." I said, tacitly admitting to using the Byakugan in the clan compound. "They care very deeply for each other, despite not having known each other for long. And Hinata has become far more assertive than she was before the incident. Much as you may hate to hear this, brother, I think that they are good for each other."

Hiashi rose to his feet and started to jerkily pace around the room.

"What do we do?"

"We educate him." I said firmly. "With your permission, I will assign a tutor to teach him reading, writing and the other basics, he is illiterate at the moment. I am sure Hinata will help. We will welcome him in our home and support him. Should he decide to live in his mansion, I will assign a couple from the Branch Family to act as his caretakers. I am sure that Hinata would join him very quickly if he did move, though."

"I want Hinata to stay here." Hiashi said quickly. "If that means we have to accept the thief…"

"I do not believe he is a thief." I interrupted. "I have been reviewing all we have heard about him, and I have reached the conclusion that most of it is slander aimed at letting people feel good about abusing him. If he did steal, it was only to survive."

Hiashi froze and I could almost feel his thoughts racing down the paths I had unwillingly explored earlier. After a few moments, he shook his head and sighed, then sat down and reached for his cup of tea.

"You are right, brother. All we know of him is rumor and second-hand reports. Very well. We shall take him in, educate him and teach him. And when he is old enough and has reached the required level of skill, we shall send him to the Academy. Have I missed anything?"

"I think Hinata wishes to help him rebuild his clan." I said, leaning sideways. The resultant spray missed me by a bare foot and Hiashi choked and spluttered before glaring at me.

"You. Did. That. On. Purpose." he accused and I bowed to hide my smile.

"Ask her yourself, I have only my impressions to go on." I said as I straightened. "But the two of them have formed a very strong attachment. It would not surprise me if they insisted on sharing a room. Well, if Hinata insisted. I doubt Naru would say anything, but he's very protective of her, as she is of him."

Hiashi slumped forwards and rested his head on the table.

"Any other wonderful bits of news, oh wonderful brother of mine?"

"Just a thought." I said. "If Hinata and Naru do marry and the Clan Re-Integration Act is supported by us, the Namikaze and Hyuuga clans will become as close as the Hyuuga and Senju during the earliest days of Konoha."

Hiashi froze, then he looked up at me, his expression an odd mixture of chagrin, hope and confusion.

"I wonder if Naruto has inherited his father's ability with seals? And his library?" I said and my brother's face lit up.

* * *

.

I paused as I glanced into Hinata's open room and saw her empty futon. Glancing round, I quickly moved to Naru's room and slid the door open slightly. Peering through, I smiled as I saw him lying on his back, spread-eagled and snoring slightly, while Hinata was curled up to him, hugging him and resting her head on his chest. Unwilling to disturb them, I made my way to my brother's study where Hiashi was looking at clan documents by the light of the rising sun.

"Good morning, brother."

"Morning." he replied in an absent tone of voice. "I saw that Hinata-chan had yet another bad dream. Do you think we need to get one of the Yamanakas in to check her mind?"

I shook my head with a slight smile. "I think not. I overheard her telling my son that she hasn't had a single bad dream in the last four months."

Hiashi froze, then he slowly looked at me, his eyes wide.

"You mean that… that she…"

"I told you she would want to share a room with him." I said with a slight smile. "Don't worry, they are far too young for anything… inappropriate to happen, but I have never seen her smile as widely as she does when she is hugging Naru-san. t's really cute. You should take pictures, use them when she's older."

Hiashi tried to give me a death glare, but a rueful smile betrayed him. Looking down, he signed another piece of paper, then waved for me to be seated.

"It's been six months. How is his education going?"

"Amazing." I said honestly. "With Hinata-san's help, Naru has reached and exceeded the level of Chakra-control we expect from seven-year-olds. The improvement in his literacy skills have been amazing, he has improved more in six months than most children do in six years. Hinata's managing to keep pace with him and Neji is as well. I think it's come as a shock to my son that someone can push him like that.

"Naru has already mastered the basics of Jyuukan. He'll never master it without the Byakugan, but he… he can re-open his tenketsu points."

"What!"

I nodded and waited for Hiashi to pick up his chair and re-seat himself behind his desk.

"He apparently sends a surge of chakra through this chakra network to re-open the tenketsu point. Hinata's learned how, so as Neji. It really makes a difference, although it apparently hurts a bit to do so. I sparred with Neji yesterday. I still beat him, but with him re-opening his tenketsu points whenever I closed them and me unable to do the same, it was close. With your permission, I'll ask them to teach me how to do it, then spread the technique around."

"He can… re-open… the tenketsu… points?"

I nodded and Hiashi's face paled slightly.

"If that leaks out, the Jyuuken will be worthless! Our perfect art, broken!"

"I've been thinking about that." I said calmly. "Naru made a comment about how Jyuuken is stiff and how Hinata moves like water. I think we should build on Jyuuken. The Gentle Fist is a solid art, but we need to expand it."

"What did you have in mind?" Hiashi asked, curiosity overcoming his panic.

"I wish to consult with Maito Gai, he's the resident Taijitsu expert and I know that he knows as much Jyuuken as Naru does. With his help we can create new Jyuuken branches, each of a different element. Ripple Fist, Breeze Fist, you get the idea?"

"I… do." Hiashi said slowly. "I'll have to take this to the council, but… yes. Go ahead and consult Maito Gai. See if any existing taijutsu styles can be used to create our new fists. We've been too complacent for too long. If Naru-san keeps doing this to us, we may end up owing him a _third_ Eye Debt, Kami help us."

I left the room laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke sat on the edge of the hospital bed glowering.

"Ah, good. You're up. You'll be pleased to know that you can leave once you get dressed, all you need do is relax for a few days."

Sasuke nodded to the doctor and quickly shed his hospital robe and got dressed. Striding out of the hospital, he paused as he saw a familiar silver-haired figure sat reading an orange book.

"Ah, Sasuke. Feeling better?"

"Feeling weak." the boy replied, irritation in his voice. "I should have done better. I can't believe that the dobe beat me again."

"You mean you haven't heard?" Kakashi asked, eyebrow raised. Sasuke gave him a long-suffering look.

"Heard what? What's the dobe done now?"

Kakashi started to walk down the street as Sasuke followed him. "It would seem that he has a lineage as distinguished as yours, if not more so."

"Naru-dobe?" Sasuke snorted. "Yeah, right. He might have some skills, but without Hinata to prop him up, he'd be nothing."

"He's more than you think." Kakashi said calmly. "And I've kept an eye on him and Hinata. They rely on each other in a true partnership. Much like his parents."

Sasuke looked up at his sensei in confusion.

"His parents? I thought he was an orphan? After all, he has no family name…"

"Oh, he has one." Kakashi said, his voice showing that he was relishing the information that he was about to deliver. "It's why Jaraiya let him sign the Toad contract, how he learnt the Rasengan while still at the Academy. He learnt it from his family library, you see."

Sasuke frowned. "His family library? The dobe lives with the Hyuugas. The Rasengan is in their library?"

"Well, it is now." Kakashi said. "He chose to share it with them. Of course, none of them have actually managed to do it yet, except for Hinata and Neji. Although I've heard that Hanabi and Konohamaru are learning it from him too."

"So where did he get it?" Sasuke asked in an irritated voice and Kakashi laughed.

"Same place he learned all those seals he uses. The Namikaze clan library."

Sasuke froze.

"…what."

"The Namikaze clan library." Kakashi repeated. "His actual name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage and his secret wife, Uzumaki Yushino. He was orphaned on the day he was born and his history hidden to protect him, but he's reclaimed his heritage and the Hyuugas have sworn to support him."

Sasuke stalked off, his thoughts roiling with anger and disbelief. How could this be? How could an… an orphaned _nobody_ suddenly be more important than the Last Uchiha! How?

* * *

.

"Kiba-san!"

Kiba froze and looked round at the three youngsters running towards him.

"Hey, kids. I haven't seen Naru today, so sorry."

"That's okay." Konohamaru said with a grin. "Hey, I heard he's getting married soon to Hinata-chan."

Kiba's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's part of the CRIA, Namikaze Naru… you did know he's the last Namikaze, didn't you?"

"I caught that part." Kiba admitted, feeling slightly depressed. "Him and Hinata, huh. I guess I stood no chance, after all. Well, I knew they were together even before he came to the academy."

The three kids looked at him in confusion and Kiba smiled slightly.

"I'm an Inuzuka, we have enhanced senses. I could smell them on each other. And their body language… it was like drowning in syrup being around them. Isn't that right, Akamaru?"

Akamaru yapped in agreement and Kiba grinned.

"So, what did you want?"

"Welllll," Konahamaru said slowly, "I realized that I actually don't know all that much about Boss's past. The whole Namikaze thing came out of nowhere, so we're collecting stories about him so we can understand him better."

"Well, if you can get me some of my favorite food, I'll tell you a… you planned to get me to tell you, didn't you?"

Konohamaru nodded as he held out the large box of dog biscuits. Kiba accepted them and led them to a nearby patch of grass. Settling himself down beneath the tree, he leaned back, crunched a few biscuits and passed one up to Akamaru before starting to speak.

"Let me tell you of the first day I met Naru. He was only at the Academy for one year, unlike the rest of us who did three years, but I still remember that day well…"


	6. Kiba

I was sat just behind Sasuke as I normally was. He was the strongest one in the class, the last Uchiha and the one with the highest marks. That made him the Alpha and since we Inuzukas are pack-oriented, I acted as his Beta. I was the one who stood between him and his fangirls, I occasionally dated some of them since he was only interested in growing stronger. We used to spar, he'd almost always win, but that was okay because it proved to me that I had made a good choice in Alphas to follow.

And then it all changed.

Sensei Iruka had finished calling the register and although Hyuuga Hinata hadn't answered, I knew she was in the corridor outside. I could smell her.

Hyuuga was the only girl who had caught Sasuke's attention. Oh, he wasn't trying to get her to be his girlfriend, but the fact that she pretty much ignored him had him somewhat confused. All the other girls were throwing themselves at him, hut not her.

I think he respected her for that. I sure did.

Besides, she's a Hyuuga. You _don't_ cross the Hyuugas.

Anyway, I caught another scent and I knew that the boy Hinata often smelled of was with her. It was going to be interesting.

"I would like to introduce a new member today." Iruka-sensei said. "Hinata, please bring him in."

Hinata came in, holding hands with a boy I'd never seen before. He smelt a bit of foxes, for some reason, but it was the first time I had actually laid eyes on him. Heck, I think it was the first time _anyone_ had.

Except Hinata, that is. Obviously.

He was a little bit taller than Hinata. He smelt like he ate healthily and was growing well. He had long blond hair caught in a ponytail and an odd head-band with cheek-pieces. No idea why. But it suited him and made his blue eyes seem brighter.

His clothes were well-made and mainly black with dark-orange trim. He wore black sandals and long pants inscribed with what I thought were odd patterns, but which I now know were seals. He had a dark orange t-shirt and a long black sleeveless coat that reached down to his knees but only zipped up from the waist. A slit at the back reached from below the waist to the bottom hem, allowing for freedom of movement. The collar was like Shino's, nose-high, except he'd left his coat undone. On his arms were bracers with more odd designs and he had crossed bandoleers under his coat, metallic with lots of compartments.

Damn, he looked cool.

Sasuke straightened in his chair as all the girls stared at the new guy instead of him.

"Everyone, this is Naru. Naru, please tell us a few things about yourself. Likes, dislikes, dreams, that kind of thing."

I looked at Naru and saw how he glanced at Hinata. He looked to her for support and I concluded that he was, despite appearances, not Alpha material.

Yeah, I was an idiot back then.

Naru bowed to the class. "I am Naru. I live with the Hyuuga Clan and am friends with most of them. I like reading and training, dislike those who judge others without getting to know them and hope to one day prove my worth to the village."

"Excellent. I see two seats over there, sit yourself down and we'll begin."

As Hinata and Naru sat down next to each other, I looked round. The other girls were not just staring at him, most of them were actually drooling. The boys were also studying him. His arms were well-muscled and he had moved very smoothly, just like a Hyuuga. I wondered briefly if he had studied the Gentle Fist, then decided that he couldn't have done. After all, only _real_ Hyuugas learned Jyuukan.

I know. I truly was a moron back then. Explains why I was the Dead Last.

Looking back, I'm not proud of that at all.

Anyway.

I could tell that Naru and Hinata were close. They always seemed to know when the other one was glancing across, they handed each other pens or other equipment without a word but with nods and smiles of thanks, it was almost as if they were telepathic or something.

I felt like I was drowning in treacle, it was so sickly sweet.

And I couldn't work out where their equipment had come from. They hadn't brought in any bags.

Anyway, when lunch came, the two of them walked out of the classroom hand-in-hand with at least half the girls in the class following them. Sasuke seemed rather off-balance with most of his fanclub having deserted him, as well as several of the boys who normally worshiped his footsteps. So he got up and followed and as a good Beta, I followed him.

When we got outside, Naru and Hinata had sat down and were eating from a pair of lunch boxes. That confused me. I mean, they hadn't brought any bags with them, so where the heck had they got the boxes from?

Yeah, I found out later. Seals. Idiot, as I said.

Anyway, Sasuke strode across and halted just in front of them, glaring at them and waiting for them to acknowledge him.

They didn't.

I just couldn't believe it. I mean, it was _Sasuke_! The Last Uchiha! The one who aced every test, scored as close to perfect as humanly possible on the target range, was the undisputed school taijutsu champion…

And they were ignoring him as they compared notes about how their day so far had been.

…what.

Sasuke finally lost patience.

"Hey, you. Who are you?"

Naru looked up at him. "…Naru. I introduced myself earlier. Weren't you paying attention? I can introduce myself again if you want."

Sasuke's frown deepened. "No, _who_ are you? What's your family?"

"I'm an orphan." Naru said. "I lost my family during the Kyuubi incident and the Hyuugas took me in. I learned a lot from them."

"Fight me. Show me what you learned."

Naru glanced at Hinata and the two of them seemed to hold an entire conversation without words. Naru sighed and closed his lunch box. Handing it to Hinata, he moved to the center of the playground.

"Taijutsu only, no weapons, ninjutsu or genjutsu. Agreed? We don't want to put anyone in danger."

"Agreed." Sasuke said. "I was about to suggest that myself. Kiba will say go."

I swelled at the honor Sasuke had given me. Waiting for Sasuke to settle into his stance, I took a deep breath and stepped back.

"Go!"

Sasuke launched an attack with his Piercing Fist style. As an Uchiha, he was expected to use it, as the Last Uchiha, he trained in it almost religiously. The attack was perfect. He went in fast, hard and his balance was solid.

And he missed.

My eyes widened and I heard gasps from the crowd. Naru had barely moved, but he had somehow deflected Sasuke, sending him rolling across the ground until he managed to get to his feet.

"What the… who taught you?"

"Hinata and myself often train with Maito Gai and his students, Tenten, Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji." Naru said calmly and the crowd gasped in amazement. Sasuke glared at him, then pulled himself into his fighting stance. This time, he closed in slowly and, when he was close enough, he launched a devastating combo attack. Having been on the receiving end of it during sparring, I flinched, but Naru…  
…seemed to simply drift backwards, his hands slapping Sasuke's fists and his legs deflecting the incoming kicks. Sasuke stepped back, his face blank and Naru waited, one eyebrow raised.

"How… how did you do that?"

"Your attack was predictable." Naru replied. "You have some speed and skill, but you lack the abilities to adapt and improvise."

Sasuke settled into his stance again and then leapt forwards, somersaulting to deliver a powerful axe kick. I had seem him slam that kick through a branch, yet Naru managed to catch the descending foot with his left hand, then he twisted and threw Sasuke halfway across the playground, causing him to collide with the tree and slump onto the ground.

I was shocked.

The new guy had not just beaten Sasuke, he had made it look _easy_.

And something told me that he was holding back.

The entire area seemed silent, then Naru gave Sasuke a formal bow and walked back to Hinata. Sitting down, he accepted the lunch box from her and continued to eat.

Wow. Maybe he was an Alpha after all.

I glanced round and found only a few of the fangirls had gone to help Sasuke up. The rest were gathered around the new boy, asking questions which he and Hinata were answering between mouthfuls. Moving in, I listened and soon discovered that he had been with the Hyuugas for several years, studying hard, and hadn't left the clan compound in all that time except to go… somewhere else. Ah, a library to get scrolls to study. That made sense. He had learned several jitsus from the Hyuugas and had used them in training. Then one question caught my ear.

"Can you do Bunshins?"

"Not exactly…" Naru said slowly. "A couple of years ago I learned Kage Bunshins, they're sort-of similar. I was trained in how to use them and they really proved useful during lesson time."

Kage Bunshins? What were…

Oh. Kami. Shadow Clones. Solid replicas of the caster. One of Kakashi's better-known moves.

How the hell did a not-even-genin learn something like that?

What the hell was he actually capable of?

I moved away and headed for Sasuke to tell him what I had learned.

I didn't think he'd like it.

* * *

.

Sasuke glared at Naru and Hinata as they sat down as the lesson started, but I was on edge.

I couldn't smell them. Hadn't been able to all day.

I couldn't understand it. I could see them. I'd bumped into Naru as we entered the room, so he was solid. He was still the reserved-but-wisecracking kid that we had come to know.

But today he didn't smell of foxes. Again.

Every friday, he somehow lost his scent. And for the last couple of weeks, Hinata had started to do the same as well. I'd asked my family about it, and they didn't have a clue about how someone could simply 'lose' their scent for a day.

It was really getting on my nerves. And I hated things that got on my nerves.

"Good afternoon class." Iruka-sensei said, looking round. "Today is the last day before the holidays, so we're going to do a test." He held up a pile of sheets. "Here are the questions, you have an hour to answer them.

Iruka passed out the sheets and sat down as we turned them over. I looked at the first question and groaned. History. Bleeurgh. In front of me, Sasuke was writing away. I glanced round and saw Hinata and Naru both filling in their sheets with their neat handwriting. With a groan, I turned back to my own test.

Question One. Name the Hokages in order.

I hate Fridays.

* * *

.

"Time's up."

Iruka walked up and down the classroom collecting the sheets. Sasuke, Sakura, Naru and Hinata had all finished their tests and had been simply sat still for the last ten minutes or so. Several of the others had also finished, Nara Shikamaru was asleep again.

Lazy baka.

Iruka seated himself at the front and nodded.

"Alright, I'll mark these and let you know on Monday how you did."

"Dobe probably failed." Sasuke sneered, glaring at Naru, who simply looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. Sasuke's expression darkened and before Iruka could react, he grabbed his ruler and threw it as hard as he could at Naru. The ruler slammed into Naru's forehead…  
…and Naru vanished in a puff of white smoke.

What. The. Hell?

Iruka's jaw had dropped as he stared at the now-empty seat. Sasuke was dumbstruck and Hinata…

…was shaking her head with a resigned expression.

"What happened?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

"Shadow Clone." Iruka said slowly. "That's a B-rank Jutsu. Creates a duplicate of the caster."

"And when the clone is dispersed, the original gains the clones memories and any acquired skills." Hinata added with a smile. "Naru-kun is very good at Kage Bunshin, he often has a dozen of them doing studying while he practices. And now he knows that you've discovered that he sort-of skipped class."

"…no wonder I couldn't smell him." I gasped as realization hit. "He's been doing this every friday for the last few months, hasn't he?"

Iruka started to laugh ruefully as he shook his head.

"Damn, the gaki's good. A Kage Bunshin in class and I never realized. And it let him learn while still doing whatever he wanted. Only Fridays, you said, Kiba?"

"Yeah." I growled. "He has no… scent… on… Friday…" I stared at Hinata. "Like you! You're a clone too, aren't you?"

Hinata nodded. "Naru-kun taught original-me to do it, but I… she… can only create two Kage Bunshins without chakra exhaustion."

Iruka's laugh grew more rueful and Hinata blushed. "Are we in trouble? We are still here, sort of, and we get all the memories of class."

"What do you two _do_ on Fridays?" Iruka chuckled and Hinata's blush grew more pronounced.

"Training, mostly. I work on my Jyuuken with Naru, while his clones read jutsu scrolls and practice the Jutsus."

"And which one is he working on now?" Iruka queried, an unreadable expression on his face, although I could sense the chagrined amusement rolling off him.

"Something called the Rasengan." Hinata said and Iruka blinked.

"Wow. That is… the Rasengan. Okay. Class, your homework is this. I want you to write about the Fourth Hokage's better-known Jutsus, one page per jutsu. Hinata, relay that to Naru since he is no longer here. Sasuke, don't throw anything at anyone in my class again. Class dismissed."

I started to rise and Hinata vanished in a burst of white smoke. Iruka grinned.

"Well, that was interesting. Does anyone else use Kage Bunshin? No, good. I guess I'll have to talk to Hyuuga Hiashi about this, though. Rasengan. Huh. Gaki's full of surprises."


	7. Chapter 7

The room was crowded but silent. The candles that illuminated it cast deep shadows, somehow fitting the mood.

"So. The Golden Flash,, son of the Yellow Flash. This is not going to be good."

Several of the figures twitched as if they were about to nod, and the central figure continued to speak.

"We can't try to grab his girl, she used the Rasengan in the exams, Kami knows what else she has. Her clan are beyond our ability to threaten thanks to those damned eyes of theirs and he has no living clan…"

The silence after the statement deepened and the figure finally looked up from the table, his face twisted in impotent rage.

"DAMN IT! Just when we were getting to the point where we could take advantage of that Kami-damned alliance between Sound and Sand, just when we could attack and gut Konoha forever, they come out more powerful than ever! The attack barely fazed them! How do they keep doing this? HOW?"

* * *

.

"Forehead."

"Ino-pig."

The two girls glared at each other, but anyone who knew them would have seen the mutual respect and friendship underneath the antagonistic surface. After a moment, they moved to a bench and sat down, looking across the park.

"Namikaze Naruto." Ino sighed. "I didn't see that one coming, did you, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Nope. The son of the Fourth and he's already taken. Our luck sucks."

"I think the Iwa ninjas had a nervous breakdown when they realized who he was." Ino snickered. "I wonder how long Iruka-sensei knew? You remember the homework he gave us when Naru first showed his skills?"

Sakura leaned back and stretched. "I think he suspected something was off, but… I don't think he _knew_."

"I didn't."

Both girls jumped with identical _"eep"_ s, then spun round to glare at the man who had appeared behind them.

"Dammit, Iruka-sensei… ummm…"

Iruka laughed. "Stereo scolding, huh? Well, at least you two aren't trying to destroy each other over this."

The two girls looked at each other, then back at their one-time teacher.

"So… why did you give us that homework?"

Iruka shrugged. "I didn't know much about the Rasengan, only that it existed. Naru… I mean Naruto startled me by including that only two people still alive had managed to do it, excluding himself and Hinata."

Ino nodded. "Oh Kami, yes. I couldn't believe it when Hinata produced that Rasengan and hit her opponent with it. That was… unbelievable."

"That's not the only one of his Jutsu they share." Iruka smiled. "In fact, let me tell you of what happened just before you all took the Genin exam…"


	8. Iruka

I was early to class that day, I hadn't managed to fully finish marking, so I thought I'd do the final few just before the bell rang. I was doing the last two, Naru's and Hinata's, appropriately enough, when I felt something odd. Looking up, I saw Naru lower Hinata to the ground.

There were several things strange about that.

First, they hadn't come in through the door, and all the windows were closed. So, how had they managed to enter? Especially with him carrying her in his arms.

Secondly, there was no sound of a Shunshin. No displaced leaves, sand, feathers, anything like that. If they _had_ used a Shunshin, I would have heard it.

Third, the corner they were in was the one furthest away from the door and windows, the corner where they normally sat together. Yet they were definitely _behind_ the line of desks and were standing against the wall rather than in position to sit down.

The solution that occurred to me was, on the face of it, preposterous. Yet it was the only one that fitted.

Hiraishin. The teleportation Jutsu used by Namikaze Mimato

Somehow, Naru had managed to learn Hiraishin. He already knew the Rasengan, as he had demonstrated to me privately a few weeks earlier, something that led to that damned pervert Jaraiya the Toad Sage appearing at my door demanding to know who Naru was and how he knew the Rasengan, and if he knew one of the Yondaime Hokage's most famous Jutsu, why not the other?

Apart from the fact that he was **only twelve, dammit!**

And an orphan.

Who lived with the Hyuugas.

Who were probably the greatest teachers of Chakra control.

Ah.

"It worked perfectly! Great idea putting individual codes on each tag." Naru said quietly, giving Hinata a hug. "While I'll admit it was _interesting_ finding out just how many tags had been placed, it was not fun explaining to Hiashi where we had been for three whole days."

"We'll have to visit that island again, though." Hinata said with a smile, looking deeply into Naru's eyes. "It was really nice there."

Tags? Island? Just what the hell were they talking about?

I had to find out, so I coughed to announce my presence.

Oh, it was priceless. Unforgettable. Hilarious.

With matching _"eep"_ s, they jumped apart. Naru slammed into the wall and had to regain his balance while Hinata spun round to look at me, her eyes wider than I had ever seen before and her face bright red.

And it matched Naru's perfectly.

I couldn't help it. Despite my best efforts, a chuckle escaped, then a snigger, a chortle, then I had fallen off my chair and was holding my ribs as I howled with laughter. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and my sides felt as if they were about to tear open.

Wow. Just wow.

It took me several minutes to recover. Once I did, I pulled myself back to my feet and tried but failed to give them a glare.

"Alright." I said, completely failing to hide the laughter in my voice. "Do I assume you've managed to get the Hiraishin down? Come here and tell me about it before school starts. And what in Kami's name did you mean by island?"

They exchanged one of _those_ looks. You know the one, the look that only lasts a couple of seconds, but seems to have a full hour of discussion in it. Yeah, _those_ looks. The ones so filled with love that even Sasuke averts his eyes.

No, that wasn't meant as an insult to him. So stop glaring at me like that.

Anyway, they stood in front of my desk and Naru spoke.

"Sensei, what you have seen is an S-ranked secret. And if you want to know more, the only people you can talk to about it are myself, Hinata or Hyuuga Hiashi-sama. Or the Hokage, but he already knows about the Hiraishin and prefers not to talk about it. Too many bad memories."

Hah, I thought. I knew it.

Where was my brain that day? He had totally misled me without actually lying. The Hiraishin itself was a Clan Jitsu, so it was automatically ranked as an S-ranked secret to any not of the clan in question. The list of people was accurate, but the last part?

Genius.

Sarutobi did indeed know about the Hiraishin. He did indeed prefer not to talk about it, or about Minato, if he could help it. He always regretted failing to fulfil Minato's last request, sacrificing young Uzumaki Naruto's happiness in an attempt to appease the villagers.

He did not say that the Hokage knew that _Naru_ could use the Hiraishin.

I assumed that he did, and Naru didn't correct me.

I'm a teacher. I should have known better. But I didn't.

As I said, _where_ was my brain?

"As for the rest," Hinata said with an odd smile on her face, "We kind of got lost for a while before realizing that Naru could actually choose the general direction to move in, rather than just going to totally random spots. Soon after, Naru realized he could actually sense the approximate location of his targets, and after that it was fairly simple to get back."

"I think we scared Iwa, though." Naru said with a grin. "And the expression on the face of the leader of the Sand village when we appeared on his desk… probably a good thing we jumped out again before he could react. I wonder who those three kids were, though."

"Iwa? Sand?" I repeated, almost numb with shock. "How far did you go?"

"There was a glacier." Hinata said, then she shivered. "It was really cold."

"We brought some ice back." Naru smirked. "I think it convinced Hiashi-sama. He wanted me to get more."

"How far did you go?" I asked, shock and awe warring for supremacy inside me. Hinata shrugged.

"Hard to say, on Friday we stayed overnight in the Land of Iron, the Samurai there were really nice to us. Heck, we met one of the Yondaime Hokage's old friends, he gave us a room for the night. Saturday was… was…"

"Land of Vegetables." Naru shrugged. "I have _no_ idea where _that_ tag was hidden. I hope they find it for us. It was… embarrassing."

"We did need the bath, by then." Hinata shrugged. "And the actress was very understanding about it. After she finished screaming, that is."

Naru blushed. "I… don't remember much about that."

"He fainted." Hinata stage-whispered to me. "We jumped into her bathroom."

For a moment, it didn't register, then my eyes widened. Before I could say anything, Naru turned away with a shrug.

"Anyway, on Sunday, Hinata managed to figure out what I was doing wrong, and we got back in time for tea and a really, really long, relaxing soak."

For several minutes, silence held us, then I chuckled slightly.

"Wow. I guess you had quite an adventure. So how did you get here?"

"Oh, I had Naru send a Shadow Clone in last night with a marked tag." Hinata said. "It placed the tag in the wall over there, and we used it to get in this morning. Simple. We have more tags in our rooms and around the Hyuuga mansion."

"Tags, hmmm?" I mused. "What happens if they're found?"

"They contain a small self-destruct section." Naru said. "If they are handled by anyone other than me or Hinata, the tag burns up. Most of the tags we know of don't have that feature, though. I've got a lot of work ahead of me, replacing the tags."

I nodded. Obviously the tags contained special targeting seals that Naru could use to Summon himself to them. So _that_ was how Minato had done it. Even a decade plus after his death, the man's genius still astounded.

"Naru's trying to teach me how to do it." Hinata added. "I don't mind him carrying me around, but once we become proper ninjas, we may be in a situation where I need to carry him to safety."

"Marking the tags will help." Naru said. "Makes it way easier. Helps keep track on the map which tags I've updated, too."

Map?

"Naru, Hinata, on Saturday, may I discuss this with your clan?"

* * *

.

The map adorned the wall of Naru and Hinata's workroom, while a small raised dais was positioned before it, a tag inset in the center.

"This shows the position of all the tags we know about, either through direct experience or the Yondaime's scroll." Hizashi explained as I stared wide-eyed at the huge map. "The dots with the codes next to them are the ones that have been replaced with marked tags, this allows for instant, direct jumps. Otherwise, Naru-san has to leap to the nearest marked tag to where he wishes to go, then use directional jumps to reach his desired location. Of course, he usually uses the opportunity to replace the tags as he does so."

The map covered all the Shinobi lands, as well as many other places, and the dots on the map seemed to be well-positioned.

Oh Kami. Knowing where everything was and able to reach it in… in a flash… no wonder Minato had been so feared by all the other nations. And Naru had been trained from the age of six by a clan of Chakra-experts and had access to the Namikaze scrolls.

…wait.

 _How_ did he have access to the Namikaze scrolls? The Namikazes and the Hyuugas had drifted apart over the previous century, so how had the Hyuugas ended up with _two_ recent Namikaze techniques?

Could it be…

"Hyuuga Hizashi-san…" I started, nervously. "Six years ago, a young orphan, named Uzumake Naruto, vanished from Konoha, sparking an international manhunt which failed to find him. Just over a year ago, Naru of no family name yet favored highly by the Hyuuga clan joined the Academy. Naru has access to scrolls which rightly belong to the Namikaze clan and has mastered several of the techniques. I suspect there is a connection, but I do not quite see it. May I ask for enlightenment?"

Hizashi stared at me for a long moment, then he nodded.

"You are an honorable man, but I shall ask that you hold this in secret. You are not to speak of it to any other than an adult Hyuuga, Hinata or Naru. Even the Hokage must not know, although the reasons for this are personal and I vow on my honor as a Hyuuga that it does not negatively affect the security of the village. Can you agree to this?"

I was shocked.

"For… how long?"

"Until the time is right and a hidden legacy is unveiled." Hizashi replied and I suppressed a snort. Did all Hyuugas have to sound like they were declaiming prophecy whenever they got serious? What came next, though, shocked me to the core.

"When the time is right, the Hyuuga shall call for the Clan Re-Integration Act to be initiated, and Hinata shall be his wife, no longer bound to our Clan, only to his." Hizashi stated. "She has already agreed joyfully to this. On that day, you shall be released from your vow of secrecy."

The CRIA? Hinata as someones wife when everyone knew she was virtually soul-bonded to Naru? I had to know, maybe I could help reduce the damage it would cause her, maybe even avert it.

"You have my word."

"Excellent. Now, the past of Naru-Sama is more complex than you would expect. Since the Third finally removed the Kyuubi Law three years back, I am now able to tell you the _true_ story of that fateful night, and the events after it…"

* * *

.

I stared at my drink, ignoring the sounds of the bar. The whole village seemed darker, meaner, crueler, although I knew that was just my perception of it.

I tossed back the Sake and poured another shot.

"Here you are."

I nodded acknowledgement to my old friend Mizuki and tossed back another shot as he sat down. He looked at the two empty bottles in front of me and the nearly-empty third and winced.

"A three bottle binge? What the hell happened?"

"I found out about an old truth." I said, choosing my words carefully. Other people become talkative, morose, angry or happy when drunk, I become contemplative. No idea why.

Mizuki used to joke I had a Kekkai Genkai. Truth in alcohol.

"An old truth." He said slowly. "And it affected you this much? What was it about?"

"Kyuubi."

Mizuki froze, staring at me.

"It's still alive? It vanished six years ago!"

I pulled a small sealing scroll out of my pocket and placed it on the table. I always keep several with me, it's a useful habit for a teacher to have. Mizuki stared at me.

"What is this?"

"A scroll." He said, humoring me. I pulled out a Kunai.

"What is this?"

"A Kunai…"

I placed the Kunai on the scroll and Sealed it with a smooth motion. Pointing at it, I asked my question.

"Is this a Kunai now?"

"No… it's a Scroll with a Kunai sealed inside it…"

I nodded and reached for my Sake.

"Then why did we try to destroy the scroll when it was all that restrained the Kunai?"

Mizuki stared at me as if I'd gone nuts. Ha. Perhaps I had.

"Destroyed what scroll?"

I unsealed the scroll and held up the Kunai.

"Kyuubi."

I pointed at the scroll. "Naruto.

I quickly resealed the Kunai. "Kyuubi sealed away. Naruto with Kyuubi sealed inside. Not was Naruto and now Kyuubi, just Naruto with Kyuubi sealed inside. But destroy scroll, Kunai emerges and kills all. Why then destroy scroll? Why destroy Naruto?"

"Because… he's the demon…"

"Is this a Kunai?"

Mizuki stared at the scroll, then up at me.

"The demon took over the boy. He was always causing trouble…"

"We betrayed him. Abandoned him. He was Namikaze's son. He wanted attention. We didn't give it. What else would he do, but seek it. We tried to destroy him. We tried to destroy the scroll. Namikaze's scroll. Yondaime Hokage's son."

Mizuke paled and I nodded slowly.

"I was shown the files. Namikaze Minato was married. He had a son. He used his son to seal the Kyuubi, to restrain it. A perfect Seal, a masterwork. We attacked his son. We tried to destroy the scroll, not caring it was not the kunai sealed away."

The silence of the bar caught my attention and I looked round, feeling the world start to drift away.

"I'm a teacher, and _I_ couldn't tell the difference between a Kunai and a scroll." I said. "Not until it was pointed out to me."

The world faded and the last thing I heard was Mizuki's voice. "Time for you to go to bed, old friend. Then I think _I'm_ the one who needs the drink…"

* * *

.

I staggered out of my room and paused at the sight of Mizuki sat on the settee. His eyes turned towards me and he nodded.

"Sorry, I needed to talk to you and since I didn't know when you'd wake up…"

I nodded and tried to get my brain working again.

That's the problem with drinking. My brain seems to only go at half-speed the next day, unless I get an adrenaline boost. Something that never happens in conversations.

"Is Uzumaki Naruto still alive?"

Okay. Hardly ever happens in conversations. I was awake, and thinking rapidly.

"What brought this on?"

Yeah, it was a terrible way of buying time to think, but it didn't matter.

"The way you were talking yesterday. You never said he was dead. And it came out of nowhere, what news did you get? And when?"

Oh hell. I quickly thought about everything I could remember of the previous night and the things I had learned, and then inspiration hit me.

Naru wasn't the only one who could lie with the truth.

"I received news that Namikaze Minato's son had been given shelter by one of Minato's old friends in the Land of Iron." I said, mentally editing and re-arranging the facts to totally mislead without lying. Mizuki always knew when I was lying.

I sometimes joked it was his Kekkai Genkai.

"I was told that Uzumaki is alive, healthy and happy in his new home. He has a girlfriend who knows about his burden and they are planning on getting married and starting a family."

Mizuki nodded slowly. "I see. One of the Yondaime's old friends… Land of Iron… I guess he's going to become a Samurai. Huh, a Jinchuuriki Samurai. That'll scare the crap out of anyone who comes up against him."

I shrugged, careful not to say anything that might indicate he was wrong. Mizuki sat there for several more moments, then nodded and rose.

"Since you're alright, I'll go. Thanks for telling me. I… I feel better, knowing that Uzumaki Naruto's alright. I hope to meet him one day, it would be an honour to fight alongside the Yondaime's son."

He opened the door and stepped out. As he did so, I heard him mutter to himself.

"And maybe I can atone for my arrogant stupidity…"

I smirked and wondered how long it would be before the rumor mill grabbed my misdirection and ran with it.

It would be amusing, it would protect Naru and it would be one step on the long path of my redemption.


	9. Chapter 9

"I think you've had enough to drink."

"Nai-chan..."

"No," the black-haired Jonin Kunoichi snapped. "I'm serious. I am not dragging your lazy behind back to the flat again. You can walk."

"So unfair..." Anko moaned, ignoring the muffled laughter behind them. A moment later, a familiar scarred man took Anko's free arm and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'll take her back." Iruka said as Anko stopped struggling and rested her head against his shoulder, a pleased smile plastered to her face. "You go back to the celebration."

"Yep," Anko slurred, taking a swig from a Sake bottle that she had somehow procured even though Kurenai had searched her pockets. "You go, dolphin-kun and me will be fine."

"No snakes." Iruka said in a semi-serious voice as they moved off, Anko relying on the chunin to guide her steps. "Last time, you passed out before telling me where the anti-venom was, and...

Kurenai shook her head as Kakashi laughed from behind her.

"The snake-mistress and the school-teacher. How the heck did those two get together?"

"Naru." Kurenai said with a shrug and a smile. "I still don't know the story of how he arranged for the two of them to meet, or even if it was intentional, but it worked."

"I just realised that I never asked..." Kakashi said as the two of them re-entered the Shinobi bar. "When did you realize who he truly was? Was it before the teams were chosen? After? Before the Wave mission?"

Kurenai smiled and gave a significant glance at the bar. Kakashi nodded and as Kurenai found a seat, he returned with a large glass of her favorite tipple.

"Here, now please. What's the story?"

Kurenai glanced round at the other ninja who were closing in, their interest sparked.

"I didn't find out about Naru's true identity until after I had done the genin test." She said. "But as for me getting him on my team, you can blame Hinata's dad..."


	10. Kurenai

I entered the Hokage's office along with my fellow Jonin, feeling somewhat overwhelmed since I had only recently passed the test and been promoted from Chunin. Taking a deep breath as the door closed behind me, I stood by Asuma, taking advantage of the situation to glance at him.

Wow, he had a great ass.

Looking round, I frowned slightly. As well as the Jonin who had volunteered to take on new Genin teams, we had been joined by none other than Hyuuga Hiashi who was... looking slightly amused.

Okay, that was odd.

You have to _know_ the Hyuugas to see past the emotionless mask they wear. I had been called to the Academy some months previously to teach the Kunoichi class, a class which almost had to be taught by a Kunoichi like myself, since a male would be unable to teach it without blushing and becoming embarrassed. A Kunoichi teacher, on the other hand, could cover the essentials such as camp hygiene, inter-personnel relations and relationships, trauma and post-rape counselling, ninja wear versus civilian wear... all the things that a Kunoichi really needs to know and which often causes the less-intent kunoichi-wannabes to quit.

Being a Ninja is hard, but it can be rewarding.

Anyway. During the class, I had noticed Hinata and afterwards she had asked to speak to me, inquiring about relationships within teams and the possibility of serving alongside a spouse. This had intrigued me given how young she was and I found myself sharing several meals with her as we discussed things of both ninja and personal natures. I even visited the Hyuuga mansion a couple of times and met her boyfriend/fiancee, Naru.

At the time, I still couldn't understand how the former heir to the Hyuuga clan had managed to not just arrange her marriage to a no-clan boy (although one who the Hyuuga owed an Eye Debt or three to) but do so with the overwhelming approval of pretty much the entire clan.

And Hinata's dad was in the room.

Amused.

Hmmmm.

The meeting started and the files on the desk of the Hokage were passed round. Most of the class were from civilian families and not expected to pass, they may have had the book smarts, but they generally didn't have the skills or drive. They were handed over to the experienced Jonin to see if they could prove themselves enough to be salvaged. Maybe a squad could be formed from the ones who stood out, but no-one really expected it to happen. The Jonin in question left with the files of the kids they were probably going to fail and the Hokage spread out the remaining nine files as Hiashi moved to his side.

"Kakashi, the Council has requested that you take the Uchiha on your team." the Hokage stated. "Look at the files and select the other two. Asuma, you get the Shika-Ino-Choji team as requested. Kurenai, any requests?"

"I'd like to try to do another tracker-team." I said, ignoring the glance that Asuma gave me. I had looked at the files earlier to get a feel for the potentials of the kids. "As such, I would like Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and..."

"Naru." Hiashi stated. I blinked.

"...Naru? I was thinking Kiba..."

Hiashi nodded, but his face remained set. "Naru has senses almost as keen as a ninken and his combat potential is higher. He knows the Jyuuken, although he lacks the Byakugan to capitalize on it, and has learned several other fighting styles from Maito Gai. In addition, his inclusion on the team will allow you to cover ground faster. His stamina is unreal and he has mastered the Shadow Clone technique. He has several other jutsu that I or he will tell you about later."

"If you don't want Naru, I'll take him and Hinata and swap them for Haruna Sakura." Kakashi said, glancing over at me. "Her Academy scores are sky high. She only just beat out Hinata for Kunoichi-recruit of the year due to her written scores."

I thought about it for a moment. By giving up Hinata, I could have both Shino and Kiba, but I had met Sakura and while she was bright and very knowledgeable, I already knew I could get along with Hinata.

Wait.

"Hokage, are Sasuke and Kiba friends? And what about Sasuke and Naru?"

"Kiba looks up to Sasuke as his Alpha and both have a rather fierce rivalry with Naru." Sarutobi said slowly, looking at the files. I managed not to wince.

"I... see..." I said slowly. "Alright, having a combat type on the team will help. I'll take Shino, Hinata and Naru."

Hiashi smirked.

He smirked?

Just what the heck did he know?

* * *

.

I watched as the trio approached for the test and managed not to blink at the wardrobe changes. Naru had swapped the two bandoleers under his coat for a single, larger one over his sleeveless coat going from his left shoulder to his right hip. On his shoulder, the bandoleer mounted a bit of armor plating with the kanji for his name and Team 8 inscribed on it. His hitai-ate was mounted on his head-protector, making him look a lot like Tenzo. Shino's clothing was unchanged except that he wore an almost identical bandoleer. Hinata on the other hand had abandoned her normal clothing and wore the same style clothing that Naru did, except that her clothes were pale grey or white, making it look almost as if Naru and her were almost reverse-colour images of each other.

And wow, the girl had developed. If only I'd been that developed at that age.

I was almost jealous.

The trio stopped in front of me and before I could introduce myself, Hinata pulled at one of the metal plates on her bandoleer, revealing it to be hinged and covering a pair of seals underneath. Channeling chakra to one of the seals, she made yet another bandoleer appear in her hand, which she extended to me.

"Gomen, but Naru and I had this made for you. It's a storage bandoleer like we wear, since we are a team, Naru and I decided to have these made. It contains over twenty storage seals..."

"And my patented alert seal." Naru said with a slight smile. "If you channel chakra into this seal just here, it alerts Hinata and myself to your location and the fact you need aid. Shino doesn't have the right training to capitalize on it the way Hina-chan and I do, but with the seal, he can alert us if he needs aid."

"Naru-san and Hinata-san have already shown me how to use the storage and alert seals." Shino said in his flat voice. "The storage capacity of the seals is impressive and the effect alert seal is optimal for situations where combat potential is of a greater importance than our normal tracking skills."

I accepted the bandoleer almost numbly and noted that it had my name on the shoulder plate. Putting it on, I smiled.

"Okay, thank you. However, you're not quite a team just yet, you need to pass my test. And for this, I asked a friend of mine to help. Anko?"

"Hey, Gakis!" Anko gloated as she popped up behind them, giving me a perfect view of their reactions. Hinata jumped in shock and reflexively activated her Byakugan for a second while Shino stiffened as his bugs briefly emerged and swarmed round him before returning to inside his coat.

I noted in passing that the bugs had emerged mainly from his collar, sleeves and the base of his coat, perhaps it would be worth having him add a few semi-concealed slits in the coat for enhanced deployment of his Kikai.

Assuming they passed the test, that is.

Naru's reaction, though, was most interesting. He started to form a hand-seal before he paused, then he released a self-depreciating chuckle.

"Naru-chan, Kage Bunshin _again_?"

Ah yes, Hiashi had mentioned it. Interesting that his first reaction was to call out reinforcements. And Kage Bunshin were solid... he had the potential to be a true one-man army. Even without thinking hard, I could see a dozen ways to use the shadow clones in the field, more if they could Henge.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts as Anko finished circling my potential-genin and stood next to me.

"Alright you three. It is time for the Genin test to see if you are worthy of becoming a Genin team. Your mission is simple and will start when I wave my hand. You simply have to touch me to pass. I will not move from my chosen spot, or take any physical action to defend myself. However, I will use Genjutsu. Anko will protect me physically, you'll need to be cautious. She won't kill you or permanently injure you," and here I carefully ignored Anko's overly-dramatic sigh of disappointment, "but she will do her best to take you down and prevent you from reaching me. Anko?"

Anko paced alongside me as I moved to the center of the training area, her head turned to watch the trio. When we reached the center, I turned round and lifted my arm.

"Now!"

To my suprise, Naru instantly threw down some smoke bombs. Both Anko and I were confused by that, smoke bombs in an open area? Where could they go?

The answer to that came when I was grabbed from behind. My gasp alerted Anko who spun around and her eyes widened almost as much as Rock Lee's at the sight of me being restrained by all three kids.

How had they done that? I hadn't even had a chance to release my Genjutsu.

"Wha... bu... how?" Anko spluttered.

"Clan secret." Naru said with a smile as Shino stared at him. "But I will say that I was the one to transport Shino, he doesn't know this trick."

Okay, so Naru helped Shino and Naru and Hinata are partners in pretty much every sense of the word.

Wow. This was one hell of a team already. I was looking forwards to training them.

And learning from them. As all good teachers should.

After I finished teasing Anko about how three fresh-from-the-academy students had managed to get past her before she could react, that is.

* * *

.

Anko was still grumbling about it when she and I met up for Dango that evening, claiming a private booth. My talk with my new team had proven very enlightening. Shino's bugs were good for tracking people over long distances and Hinata's Byakugan allowed her to see through genjutsus and solid objects within a limited range, making it impossible to hide from her. It was Naru who was the real suprise, however. In addition to the whatever-he-used jutsu to transport himself and Shino, his ability to create Kage Bunshin was unbelievable. In response to my request, he generated over a hundred of them, without showing any sign of fatigue! And he knew about the memory-return aspect of them, meaning that he could use them to scout out large areas with no risk to himself.

And I got the impression that both he and Hinata had a few extra Jutsu tucked away.

One hell of a team. I wouldn't need to do more than the mandated minimum of D-rank missions to get their teamwork down, they simply had to integrate Shino and from how they had led him off, they were already working on it.

C-ranks, here we come.

Anko's grumbling finally penetrated my euphoric thoughts and I managed to focus back onto reality.

"...and I still have no clue how those Gakis did that. It was like watching Hiraishin in action, I swear the cloud was illuminated."

I blinked. When had Anko seen Hiraishin? Yes, the Yondaime Hokage had been the one to help her after Orochimaru had abandoned her to die, but...

"Anko, what do you know about Hiraishin?"

Anko snorted. "What do I know? Minato had Kushina give me a seal-tattoo after he found out people were trying to kill me for being trained by that fucking bastard. All I had to do was channel chakra into it and he'd appear to smack down whoever was trying to hurt me."

As she spoke, she pulled up her left sleeve and touched her arm with her right hand. A brief glow from her fingers caused a complex tattoo to appear.

"Whenever I did this, he would... huh?"

Both of us blinked as two flashes of light briefly illuminated our darkened corner, and Naru and Hinata were there, looking round.

"You felt it too, Hina-chan?"

"I did." Hinata said, flaring her Byakugan, "But I do not see a tag here. And I do not understand how one could flare like that."

Although I was confused by this, it was Anko's reaction that caught my attention. She was staring at the duo with a gobsmacked expression.

No.

It was Naru that had her attention. Her eyes seemed to be... measuring... or something. Then she grabbed him and yanked off his head-protector before staring at him again, eyes even wider.

"Anko..?"

"Oh Kami..." she breathed, tears filling her eyes and overflowing. "You... you're alive! I thought you'd died years ago and you... you... you..."

Hinata and I swapped confused looks as Anko pulled Naru into an almost bone-crushing hug, tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Otouto... I missed you so much, little brother." She whispered, causing me to do a double-take. "Those fuckers on the council wouldn't let anyone take you in, but I helped to watch over you whenever I could. When you went missing, that was the worst day of my life, but you're back. You're back!"

"Anko?" I asked slowly. "You're starting to scare me here..."

"You don't know?" Anko grinned through her tears as she loosened her grip and looked down into Naru's confused (and semi-conscious) face. "Naru... He came when I sent out the call, just like his dad used to do."

His dad?

But she said that... Minato...

Oh.

My.

Word.

Part of me was in shock. Naru, son of the Yellow Flash? How was that possible? Who had the Yondaime married?

The other part of me was rubbing its hands in glee. I had to know how far he could Hiraishin, the limitations and advantages. I already knew he could carry another person from the test that morning.

My recon team had suddenly become far more capable than I had thought possible in my wildest dreams.

Oh, I was going to _rush_ through the D-ranks to get to the C-ranks and B-ranks.

Take that, Kakashi and your two top students! You got the Last Uchiha, _I_ got the Yondaime's _son_!

 _With_ his skills!

Life was good.


	11. Chapter 11

The buzzing of the Kikkai hives was a soothing, familiar constant background noise to the dozen members of the Aburame clan who were checking on the insects and making notes.

"Hive seven is showing a slight imbalance in number of workers, nothing to be alarmed about, but increased observation is recommended. I have updated the records accordingly."

"Cross-breed project sixteen has produced a new generation of Kikkay. Early indications show that they have enhanced speed and agility, but they can only absorb eighty percent of the chakra of normal Kikkai."

"Hive seventeen hatched two queens yesterday. I have split the hive, the new one is now hive sixty-three."

Aburame Shiba nodded acknowledgement at the last report, then spotted someone he wanted to talk to.

"Shino."

"Father."

The two of them exited the cavernous building and strolled across the gardens towards another hall, this one decorated with images of the Kikkai and famous Kikkai users.

"What did you wish to speak to me about, Father?"

"First, I wished to congratulate you for your actions and achievements during the exams, my son. You brought great honour on the clan."

"Thank you, father."

Shiba looked at his son.

"Secondly, I wished to discuss the legacy of the Yondaime."

"Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kitsune no Kyubi, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, user of the Rasengan and the Hiraishin and the soon-to-be husband of Hyuuga Hinata. That legacy?"

" _That_ legacy." Shiba confirmed. "Since graduating, you have spent the most time with him of anyone bar the Hyuuga. The clan council is worried about how little they know about him. They wish to know more."

As he finished, Shiba opened the door of the hall, revealing the entire clan council waiting for them. Entering, Shikaku closed the door behind him and took his own seat, leaving Shino standing before them.

"Honored Council, how may I serve the Clan and the Hive?"

For a moment, silence descended, then one of the council members spoke.

"Abarume Shino, you have worked alongside Namikaze Naruto. We would ask you to share some of your experiences, so that we may form a better idea of him."

Shino nodded.

"I understand. He is, after all, the reason I chose to learn the art of seals to complement the fighting style of the clan. With your permission, I will begin my recitation from the day that Team 8 was formed..."


	12. Shino

From the moment that I had joined Team 8, I had known there was something... unusual about Naru. My Kikkai had reported that Naru had levels of Chakra better suited to one of Kage-level, as well as... something in the Chakra that they disliked. They could not describe it better than that, but it was an interesting data point.

The test itself was another data point. Hinata had presented me with a storage bandoleer the day before and I had taken several hours to examine it. I had been impressed, as had my father, whose expertise I had called upon. The seals were masterpieces while the emergency alert tag concealed under the shoulder plate was highly unusual. My father noted that it reminded him of the seal tag used on the Kunai that the Fourth had used for his Hiraishin technique.

I was unable to formulate any logical theory for Hinata to have gained access to that seal.

The reason for the similarity soon became obvious during the test. It _was_ a Hiraishin tag and Naru used it to Hiraishin himself and myself past Kurenai-sensei's emotionally-suspect friend, letting us pass the test almost instantly.

What caught my attention was that while Naru had transported me, Hinata had made her own jump.

She knew how to use the tags as well.

Interesting.

Obviously the Hyuuga had managed to get access to Namikaze Jutsu.

Although at the time I was unable to formulate any logical theory for how they did that.

At my suggestion, Naru began experimenting with transporting items via Hiraishin and the use of Kage Bunshin. We soon discovered that although a Kage Bunshin would destabilize and dissipate upon arrival before it could fully re-form, whatever (or indeed, whoever) it carried would make it to the target area intact and unharmed. In addition, should one Bunshin transport another, the one being transported would re-stabilize upon arrival, allowing Naru to deploy Bunshin remotely, albeit at a double-cost.

His attempts to directly form Bunshin through a Hiraishin proved futile. I admit that I was actually relieved at that, Naru was a real Chakra powerhouse and I was already starting to feel envious.

Hinata and Naru worked hard on making me feel welcome and integrating my skills into their already-excellent team-work. Hinata concentrated on the close-in work, her mastery of the Jyuken was almost flawless. Naru was our medium-to-long range specialist with his mastery of wind-style techniques. His ability to utilize the Rasengan was quite shocking, the first time he did it, but in retrospect I should have seen it coming given his Hiraishin skills.

I remained unaware that Hinata had the Rasengan in her arsenal as well. I did not discover _that_ until the Chunin exams.

Kurenai-sensei almost rushed us through the required D-ranks to get to the C-ranks. The first C-rank was the delivery of a message-scroll to our allies in Suna. To no-one's surprise, Naru was able to jump us there. Once we arrived, we delivered the scroll and then took a week's vacation on a resort island that the Yondaime had apparently enjoyed. It had a Hiraishin tag on it, anyway.

And scratched graffiti, the words _Flash_ and _Tomato_ in a heart. It seemed to mean something to Hinata and Naru, but I did not inquire in case it was personal.

I appreciated visiting that island, there were many interesting insects to study in the undergrowth.

It was the second C-rank that was interesting.

* * *

.

The mission, on the face of it, seemed simple enough. A bridge builder named Tazuna requested an escort returning back to his home village and protection from bandits until the bridge was completed.

Kurenai-sensei accepted the mission and we departed to make our preparations ready to meet the next morning. As we left, we encountered team 7 who, upon learning of our two C-rank missions, demanded one of their own.

For some reason, their mission to locate the missing boy Uzumaki, believed to be residing in the Land of Iron, and to try and persuade him to return to Konoha, preferably bringing his new girlfriend with him, caused Naru and Hinata to almost collapse in fits of laughter.

I was obviously missing the joke.

Kurenai got it, but she merely smiled.

For some reason, though, Hinata gave Sakura an odd necklace and a whispered conversation. I have yet to find out what that was about.

We set off soon after sunrise after Naru confirmed (somewhat sheepishly) that he did not have a Hiraishin tag deployed at our planned destination and thus we would have to make our way there on foot.

The fact that Tazuna was a civilian, and thus incapable of the chakra-enhanced progress that we shinobi could make, meant that the mission would be longer. But at least Naru could simply Jump us back once the mission had ended.

After positioning a tag should we ever need to return, of course.

Maybe more than one. Redundancy in planning ahead is a good thing.

It was not long after we left that we encountered an anomaly. Despite the fact that it had not rained for the past few weeks, there was a puddle in the middle of the road.

Our whole team noted it.

Kurenai-sense is not known as the Genjutsu Mistress for nothing. It remains my opinion that she had detected the genjutsu used even before we crested the hill.

Hinata had been using her Byakugan in brief bursts to check no-one was sneaking up on us through the forest. She later confirmed to me that she had spotted the ambushers before we had reached them.

My Kikkai informed me of the presence of a low-level genjutsu and I was able to rationalize out the situation from that.

Naru admitted later that he had missed it, he has very little Genjutsu capability, although he has mastered a chakra-pulse technique that can destroy any genjutsu within the affected area. It also disorients my Kikkai if I am not forewarned, so he has learned to give a signal so I can prepare for the pulse. Anyway, while he missed the genjutsu itself, the slight reactions that the rest of us had were more than enough to inform him that there was a problem.

And he was probably the best-prepared of us.

I had been unaware that Naru had trained under Maito Gai for several years.

Using Shadow Clones.

With their learning capabilities.

After the mission, Gai mentioned in my hearing that Rock Lee and Naru are lifelong friends and sparring partners, and that Gai and Lee often double-team against Naru and his clones and they fight without holding back until all of them are exhausted.

When you think about it, the only word that can describe it is... terrifying.

Anyway, all of us were ready when we approached the puddle. Kurenai had already cast a genjutsu that made it seem that she and Tazuna were still with us when she pulled him out of the way, meaning that when the two ninja appeared out of the illusory puddle and attacked, their chain-weapon simply coiled around empty air. I started to deploy my hive while Hinata moved to protect me. Naru...  
...deployed several dozen clones. Half of them vanished and the rest swarmed the two attackers before vanishing, taking the attackers with them.

I was rather disturbed by this and turned to Naru, seeking an explanation.

"It's OK, I sent them to Gai. He's been complaining that his workouts are getting boring, I thought a couple of nuke-nin would cheer him up. He just said thanks, by the way."

My lack of comprehension must have shown, because he continued to explain as Kurenai and Tazuna returned.

"I have some tags at his favorite training grounds. I found out where he was, using my clones, then gave him a heads-up and dropped the ninja in front of him. He took one down, Lee took down the other, and they'll be sent to Ibiki for questioning. Once that's done, Gai'll give my clone the info and my clone will bring it to us so that we can plan. Simple."

Simple? Naruto had effectively just used Konoha as impromptu backup and could probably do so to any enemy we encounter, and he said it was _simple_?

Never before had I felt so... inferior.

I made a vow that when I got back, I would study harder.

* * *

.

The next problem we encountered was far more serious and if any other team had been deployed, they would have been in serious trouble.

Naru, of course, started by sending a few clones to Konoha to give Gai a heads-up that he might be needed even as the thrown sword finished embedding itself into a tree. Naturally, we used a similar technique to before. Kurenai, fully aware of the instant-win-ability Naru was able to perform, hid herself, me and Tazuna under a Genjutsu while I deployed my Hive. Naru started doing his army-of-one technique while Hinata took position beside him to protect him as he deployed his clones.

I think Zabuza was... unsettled by the army of blonds filling the clearing and taking position on the lake.

It was then that I learned that Naru could water-walk.

I really should have seen it coming.

I vowed to double my planned training.

Zabuza tried to raise a mist, but Hinata used her Byakugan and started shouting directions to Naru's clones while Naru himself used a wind jutsu to blow the mist away.

Alright, then, time to triple my training.

And find out what in Kami's name my elemental affinity is.

Anyway, Zabuza was rather... irritated by this turn of events, so he summoned backup. A boy wearing Kiri hunter-nin clothing who used senbon needles as weapons. His appearance leveled the playing field somewhat as he was popping the clones by the dozen and forcing Hinata to use her abilities to defend against his projectiles.

By this time, Naru was starting to show sweat slightly, but he was still pumping out the clones.

Then he changed the rules and one of his clones threw some kunai. Both adversaries dodged them, but it was enough.

They were tri-blade kunai.

Hiraishin.

With the kunai to use as targets, the clones were able to swarm Zabuza and his apprentice and send them back to Konoha. I heard later that the Hokage himself had been passing by and had decided to take down Zabuza personally while Gai and Lee dealt with the hunter-nin.

Team 8, two more points. Enemy, zero.

And I needed to quadruple my training.

Maybe train with some weapons as well.

Or learn seals.

The only downside was that Naru was tired and I had to carry him after his clones dispelled. I was somewhat surprised by that, I didn't think he'd ever run out of energy.

Kage level? I was starting to think that was an understatement.

Once again, I mentally upped my planned training.

Maybe I should simply start wearing green spandex.

* * *

.

Reaching Tazuna's house, we settled in. His daughter, Tsunami, was an excellent cook while his grandson, Inari, was... depressed. He had lost someone important to him at the hands of a businessman/crime-lord named Gato, and had become convinced that no-one could stand against him.

His expression when Hinata told him we had defeated four of Gato's hirelings with ease was interesting. After Hinata had got Naru to take him to Konoha to meet Team 9, whom Gai was more than happy to have pre-deployed on request in order to back us up, as well as Gato's former ninja underlings, apparently the Hokage had made some kind of deal with the four and had enlisted them into Konoha's ranks, Inari became more optimistic.

Naru gave him a special Kunai and told him that simply by throwing or dropping it, it would summon him or Hinata, should anything bad happen.

I wasn't certain if it was an attempt to make Inari feel better, or if Naru actually thought that Gato would stoop to such underhanded tactics.

It turned out to be the first. Naru hadn't actually considered the second.

Naru's luck is... unreal.

I still remember that casino mission... I'll tell you about that later.

Maybe.

Anyway, with help from Naru in shifting materials and bringing in food supplies by judicious use of his clones and Hiraishin, Tazuna managed to make great progress on the bridge, until Gato showed up personally along with an army of thieves and murderers, threatening to kill Tazuna and destroy the whole village.

Then he made the mistake of threatening to make Hinata and Kurenai members of his harem.

Idiot.

Especially since Naru had just informed us that his clones had responded to the kunai tag and had just prevented Inari and Tsunami from being seized.

Kurenai struck first with an area-genjutsu that confused the enemy. I released my Kikkai and actually managed to do some damage with them.

Thank Kami. I thought I would have nothing to do in that mission.

I hated being the tagalong.

Hinata produced several shadow-clones and set up a perimeter to protect us. She took down several of the bandits who had managed to shake off the genjutsu.

I mentally noted that I should kill myself if I ever made her angry. It would hurt less and be over quicker.

And Naru surprised me.

Instead of sending them all to Konoha, he actually fought. That threat of Gato's had really annoyed him and he let loose, summoning a hundred clones and charging in.

He used Rasengans.

Yes, Ragengans. Multiple. Most of his clones were using them.

When the fighting had died down, less than fifty of Gato's several-hundred-strong mob were still alive, and most of them were seriously injured. Gato himself was unscathed, but covered in blood.

I did not believe that blood was the only liquid on his trousers.

It was then that the villagers appeared, armed and led by Inari and Tsunami. Naru handed Gato over to them, then asked a few questions before creating some clones and sending them off somewhere. I recalled my Kikkai and started performing basic first-aid on the bandits.

Because they needed to live so they could stand trial.

By the end of the day, the bandits, those who were still alive, had been locked up and sentenced to hard labor. Gato himself... had been executed. In exactly the same manner that Inari's father figure had been killed a few years prior.

And Naru sprung another surprise on us all.

The clones that he had dispatched had been sent to locate Gato's headquarters and to bring back the contents. The village was amazed at what was brought back. Entire storage scrolls full of food, drink, money, valuable items, stolen deeds... and records that gave an idea of who had what stolen from them.

With more than enough left over to pay for the A-rank mission we had just performed.

Nice.

The celebration started almost immediately. Naru himself was the main hero of the day, but he insisted that we all got credit. The bridge itself, well, they wanted to name it after Naru, but he made a suggestion.

Well, more of a demand.

The Bridge of Hope.

Nevertheless, they made a plaque to honor our efforts.

_This bridge was made possible by the efforts of four shinobi from the Land of Fire.  
_ _They stood against those who sought to oppress those who were weaker  
_ _They stood against those who took that which was not given_

_The names of the four were :-  
_ _Yuuhi Kurenai  
_ _Aburame Shino  
_ _Hyuuga Hinata  
_ _Naru_

_They restored hope to the Land of Waves  
_ _This Bridge stands because of them._

Naru managed to slip a tag behind the plaque.

He also told Inari to keep the Kunai.

The celebration was still going when we left, three days later.

The return took less than five seconds.

It was disappointing to learn that my chakra reserves were far too low for me to learn Hiraishin myself.

Or Rasengan.

But Naru did give me a book on basic seals.


	13. Chapter 13

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-Sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Everyone else in the bar quickly turned away as the green-clad duo embraced to the background of crashing waves against a setting sun.

"How do they do that?" Kiba moaned and Sakura shrugged, glancing over at their other team-mate.

"I don't know. Even Sasuke-kun can't see through it with his Sharingan."

Sasuke, sat over in the corner nursing a Sake, glanced over with a frown, then returned to his brooding.

"Well," Kiba said as team 9 finally settled down and team 10 entered the bar, "I need to get back to the compound, my mum's finally decided to teach Akamaru and me some new jutsus."

Sakura watched him leave, then smiled as her rival and best friend sat down.

"So, did the whole Naru/Naruto thing come as a surprise to you too?"

"It did." Ino moaned. "It shouldn't have done, how many blue-eyed blonds not in the Yamanaka clan are there? And with the name so similar... but no. We were all caught by surprise. And don't try to claim you knew it, Forehead. You went on that mission to find him, remember?"

"Ah yes." Sakura said as the others moved in closer. "Our first C-rank mission."

"You're lucky." Ino said with a pout. "Going on a mission with Sasuke-kun. Hey, I have an idea! Sasuke, tell us about how you got that mission! Please?"

All eyes turned to Sasuke as he sipped the last of his Sake.


	14. Sasuke

Hn.

...

...

...

what?

...

...

...

hmph.

...

...

...

I'm going to train.


	15. Sakura

Since Sasuke won't tell you about _that_ mission, I will.

My team was not what you would consider the greatest at the time. Our sensei was a pervert who was always late and my two team-mates?

Kiba was a horny brat who kept trying to get me to go on a date with him since I kept failing to get one with Sasuke and Sasuke himself seemed... distant.

And he wanted to kill someone.

Still does.

Well, at least Akamaru was happy to let me fuss over him.

Anyway, each day, we would wait for Kakashi-sensei to show up. Kiba and Sasuke would occasionally spar before he arrived while I did some reading.

After they both got banged up a few times, I started to do some studying on medical jutsus so I could get them healed up. At Kiba's request, I also learned some medical treatments for nin-dogs from Kiba's sister, Hana, during my spare time.

I have no idea why Kiba is so cocky. His mum and sis keep swatting him down, but it never seems to stick...

Where was I?

We seemed to be doing great with our D-rank missions until one day, we were heading for the tower when Team 8 passed us by, talking, and Kiba overheard something that made him rather upset.

"Did you hear _that_? They're getting their _second_ C-rank! We need one!"

Kakashi looked at us and Sasuke nodded.

"I agree. Our skills have advanced enough that continuing to do D-ranks is a waste of our capabilities. A C-rank would let us prove how far we've advanced."

I almost melted at that. Sasuke was so cool!

"Very well." Kakashi said as he led us into the tower. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

.

The mission we got was an important one. Apparently, one of Konoha's citizens, an Uzumaki Naruto, had vanished several years prior and had been assumed dead. The last of his clan, he had an odd bloodline that Konoha wanted and it was up to us to persuade him that he should accompany us back to Konoha to reclaim his inheritance.

No violence, no threats.

And the size of his inheritance was huge! My family are rich, but the Uzumaki inheritance was massive! It accounted for over a quarter of Konoha's treasury!

No wonder they wanted him back. If he pulled his money out of Konoha, the entire village would collapse.

I wondered if he was cute.

Then came the kicker. He already had a girlfriend, one who knew of his bloodline and loved him anyway. We had to persuade her to come as well, which would be tricky if she had family there.

Maybe persuade the whole family to come.

And we left in the morning. I had to tell Ino.

* * *

.

I managed to find Ino talking with Naru and Hinata on the high street.

"Hey, Ino-pig!"

"Forehead."

I glowered a bit at that. My forehead isn't _that_ big.

"We got a C-rank mission and we're leaving tomorrow. Team 8 aren't the only ones doing C-ranks!"

Ino glared at me, then sighed.

"So what mission are you off on? Delivering a message? Escorting a fat merchant? Babysitting Konohamaru?"

I couldn't help it. I smirked.

"Try bringing a lost clan back to Konoha!"

All three of them looked at me, interested.

"We're headed for the Land of Iron to locate the missing heir and potential clan-leader of the Uzumaki clan, as well as his fiancee! And once we find them, we'll bring them back."

Okay, I did not expect the reactions I got. From Ino, a look of surprise and jealousy. That was expected. Naru and Hinata looking at each other before collapsing in almost-hysterical laughter. That was not.

What.

The.

Heck?

It took several minutes for them to pull themselves together, and Naru was looking everywhere except at me. It was Hinata who spoke, her voice wavering.

"I am... sure you'll have an interesting time."

"With Sasuke and me on the job, it's almost as good as done." I boasted and Naru started choking. Hinata gave him a look, then pulled something out of one of the storage seals on her bandoleer.

I really had to get one of those.

"Here, this may be useful. It's a... shadow tag."

I stared at it. It was a necklace with a square metal plate on it, a plate with a spiral etched on the front.

"If you feed chakra into it, it'll release one of Naru's shadow clones, ready to protect you." Hinata explained. "It'll also send a pulse to tell us you're in trouble, so use it only when you really, really need to, alright?"

I nodded. I had seen Naru training with Gai and Lee, his skills were scary. Having one of him along as backup was... reassuring. I put it on, tucking it underneath my top.

"Thank-you. But what if you need it?"

"I have several." Hinata responded, passing another one to Ino. "By the time you get back, I'll have a special one made for each of you."

Both Ino and I thanked her. We really liked Hinata, she was always kind, and she had Naru, so she wasn't a competitor for Sasuke.

I hadn't realised at the time just why she didn't need anyone but Naru.

She'd already won. Ino and I were competing for the second-best.

* * *

.

The journey itself was hell. It took a week of running and walking, and my stamina wasn't anywhere as good as I had thought. For the first few days, Kakashi, Kiba and Sasuke took it in turns to carry me.

Kami, it was humiliating.

And it kept getting colder. By the end of the week, I was grateful for the extra money I had brought, it allowed me to buy a warm coat and trousers. To heck with looking good, I needed to avoid freezing to death. After all, if I died, I couldn't claim Sasuke.

Thank goodness I had found out how to do sealing scrolls. Carrying all my stuff would have been impossible otherwise.

Everyone else was appreciative of my sealing skills when I provided them with scrolls to store their packs in.

Something else to thank Hinata for, she was the one who had inspired me to research seals with that bandoleer of hers.

I still had to find out where she got it from.

* * *

.

The rest of the journey was rather boring. Kakashi-sensei arranged for us to go with a merchant caravan leaving from one of the border towns on the route we were taking. The merchant himself was ecstatic about having a quartet... sorry, Akamaru, a _quin_ tet of ninja along for much of his journey. I used much of the time to study the medical jutsu scrolls and I practiced somewhat on the merchant's rather accident-prone kids, using the mystic palm technique to heal their cuts and scrapes.

I also healed up two of his employees after they had got into a fight with each other. I couldn't restore the lost teeth, and I had to splint one of their arms since the mystic palm only speeds up healing and bones take a while even under the best of circumstances, but I got fairly good at it.

Kakashi actually taught us a few things during that time. We learned tree-walking and the theory of water-walking.

There weren't any lakes around to practice on. We had to wait until we returned to do it.

And then we arrived at the capital city.

Unlike Konoha, the city is built from stone. Lots and lots of stone with really thick walls. They don't have ninja there, they have samurai instead. Not the samurai-wannabes that occasionally pop up in the Land of Fire, but _real_ samurai.

Honorable, always tell the truth, masters of swordsmanship, almost immune to most shinobi tricks due to their chakra-infused armor.

And scary as _anything_.

In a fair fight, a samurai can destroy a shinobi of equal strength. Their training resembles that of Maito Gai and they do not stop. They do not fear death. They live to serve their lords in life and death.

Before we entered the city, Kakashi sat us down and gave us a long talk about what we should and should not do.

Most of it was aimed at Sasuke for some reason, and it boiled down to "shut up, keep quiet, do not get into a fight, don't say anything, don't glare at anyone, leave everything to me. Otherwise I'll knock you out, tie you up and drag you back to Konoha personally."

As I said, samurai are scary. Even Kakashi-sensei didn't want to do anything to irritate them.

But we had a mission. Kakashi had a list of the samurai who might have taken Uzumaki in, all of whom were the Yondaime's friends from when he had studied there.

That confused me. Surely the boy we should be after would carry the name Namikaze rather than Uzumake. And what was his first name? Nuto, Ruto, Runato? I couldn't remember.

Anyway, Kakashi led us to several of the mansions.

Mansions, heh. More like small castles.

The conversations were generally along the same lines. At the doorway, it was...

"I apologize for disturbing you, but I was asked to perform a mission. Is this the house of the noble Lord ******?"

"It is. What is your mission?"

"My team and I have been sent to inquire about the location and well-being of a certain person whom Konoha has recently discovered is still alive, much to my leader's rejoicing."

"Please wait here, I will see if Lord ****** will grant you an audience."

And once inside, we would kneel down and bow deeply when the Lord took his place. I had been ordered by Kakashi to keep Sasuke quiet and, should he start trying to say something, drag him out as fast as possible with Kiba's aid.

I think Kiba enjoyed it a bit too much on the one occasion we had to act. And Kakashi's verbal beat-down of him afterwards was... awe inspiring.

With the lord in question, the conversation was usually along the lines of...

"I have been informed you are on a quest?"

"Indeed, Lord ******. Close to seven years ago, a child vanished from the Village Hidden in the Leaves.  
"Unbeknownst to most, he was the son of the beloved Yondaime Hokage, orphaned at birth and his heritage hidden in order to stop his fathers enemies from seeking vengeance against him.  
"His loss was a great blow to Konoha.  
"However, less than a year ago, a rumour spread that this child, known to us as Uzumaki Naruto, was alive and well in the Land of Iron, having been adopted by one of his father's old friends.  
"On behalf of Konoha, we are here to offer him the chance to reclaim his heritage as the son of Namikaze Minato."

"I see. That is a truly honourable quest, but I fear I cannot aid you with it.  
"Whoever adopted the boy, it was not I, although I would have been honored to be the one to protect the son of my old friend.  
"You have my apologies, ninja of Konoha, but at this time, I cannot help you any further."

"I thank you for taking the time to provide the aid you have done, Lord ******. I apologize for wasting your time."

"Not at all. Knowing that the son of my old friend is alive has lightened my heart, should his path cross with mine, I will be certain to send word to Konoha."

"I thank you for your generosity and patience."

We worked through the entire list that Kakashi had been given without success, until we reached the last one, Lord Mitsuhide. That conversation was... interesting. After Kakashi gave the standard opening speech, Lord Mitsuhide looked... thoughtful. After a few minutes, he spoke.

"I am aware of the one of whom you speak, Hatake Kakashi, but he is no longer here. In fact, I can say with certainty that he is no longer in the Land of Iron, he left along with his fiancee to travel to other lands."

That rocked Kakashi somewhat.

"Rest assured that should he return, I will inform him of Konoha's offer. Does the law regarding his burden still apply?"

That had me confused for a moment, but Kakashi simply shook his head.

"Then I will be blunt. From what he has told me, many of those in Konoha were unable to recognize that he was not the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but was instead the one who held it imprisoned and prevented it from wreaking havoc on Konoha. Please tell your leader, the Sandaime Hokage, that I would appreciate it if he publicly explained that Uzumaki Naruto-san is not the demon, but the jailer of it. As a seal-master myself, and one who helped Namikaze Minato to hone his trade, I have examined his seal and can assure you that it is functioning exactly as it should be, funneling chakra from the Kyuubi to Naruto while protecting him from the Kyuubi's influence.."

Okay, I already knew that the Kyuubi had been sealed into Uzumaki, that much had been common knowledge. But the whole influence-protection thing? That was new.

Wow.

My mother had told me after the whole sealed-kyuubi truth came out that the Kyuubi had taken over Uzumaki. But this... was my mother wrong?

"I thank you for this gift of knowledge, Lord Mitsuhide." Kakashi said. "Rest assured that I shall ensure that all of Konoha knows about this information you have revealed once we return."

Hmmm, I guess that meant I'd be tasked with telling Ino about it once we got back. That's the fastest was to get any information spread, after all.

Stop glaring, Ino. We both know that's the truth.

* * *

.

It was a boring trip back. Kakashi suggested that I talked to Kurenai about some supplemental genjutsu training to capitalize on my chakra control once we returned, and he had me do water-walking to build up my reserves. Sasuke was still recovering from a sparring match that I had missed. According to Kiba, Sasuke had mouthed off at a trainee samurai and had barely escaped being killed a dozen times in five seconds. I only found out about it when I was asked to heal his cuts and reset the bones in his arms.

On the plus side, he had activated his Sharingan.

Although he was on a liquid diet for the entire journey home.

Remind me to get the story of that fight some time. I'm sure it was impressive, even if Sasuke lost and had to be saved by Kakashi.

Anyway, the journey back was even more boring than the journey there. But the interview with the Hokage just capped it for being underwhelming.

* * *

.

"Team 7 reporting from the Land of Iron recovery mission, the mission was only a partial success."

The Hokage stared at us from behind the desk and I inched backwards slightly, putting Sasuke between myself and the penetrating gaze directed at us.

"Define _partial_ success."

"We have confirmation that Uzumaki Naruto was indeed in the Land of Iron until recently, under the care and tuition of Lord Mitsuhide. According to this," and Kakashi produced a small scroll, handing it over to the Hokage, "Naruto has studied Bushido to the point where he could become a true samurai if he chooses to be one, a choice that his parents once had. However, he is no longer in the Land of Iron and his current location is again unknown. Lord Mitsuhide promised to inform him of Konoha's offer next time he returns there, though.  
"From a team perspective, you may be pleased to know that Sasuke managed to activate his Sharingan. Unfortunately, he will need some time in the hospital to recover fully from the misadventure that let him gain its power."

The Hokage nodded and quickly scanned the scroll.

"I see. Well, you will receive a third of the normal fee for this since although you failed in the primary mission, you succeeded in the secondaries. Genin, dismissed. Kakashi, stay. I want more details."

We filed out of the room and the door closed behind us.


	16. Chapter 16

Konohamaru was in hot water, along with his two friends. Sat opposite him was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, her curious gaze fixed on him.

"You're really leaving tomorrow?" Moegi asked as she finished settling into the hot pool.

"I am." Came the soft reply. "I know that with Naru's aid, I can jump between Konoho and home almost instantly, but it is best that I stay at home for as much as I can to oversee things. My uncle really screwed things up with his quest for power."

"I heard some of the tales." Udon said, glancing across to where Haku was sipping a cool drink and smiling at them. "I liked the nicknames, the Shuriken Maestro, the Moonlight Princess, the Ice Demon…"

Haku briefly smirked.

"When we three grow up, I hope we get nicknames as cool as those."

"And maybe I'll persuade everyone to finally drop the whole ' _Honorable Grandson_ ' thing." Konohamaru groused. "It's been a real pain. I want a _cool_ nickname that I've _earned_ , not one that is purely because of who I'm related to. If it wasn't for Boss, I don't think anyone other than my family would know my name."

"Boss?"

"Naru. Haku-sensei finally told us yesterday that it was Naru who persuaded him to help us learn. That means that Naru's the Boss, and I'll be Hokage after he is."

"How did you meet Naru?" the lady asked and Konohamaru grinned.

"It's a long story and it stems from being the grandson of the Hokage…"


	17. Konohamaru

Being the grandson of the Hokage is not easy, despite what people say. I grew up being called... 'Honourable Grandson', something I grew to hate with every fibre of my being.

I soon decided that if I wanted everyone to stop calling me that, I should get a better title, and what better than Hokage? Since Gramps told me that the Hokage was the strongest ninja in the village, I worked out that if I could beat him, I would be Hokage.

My first few attempts proved... _embarrassing_. I think Gramps was amused by my clumsiness because he gave me a tutor, a black-clad jonin called Ebisu.

I still think Gramps was playing a joke on me with that.

Ebisu was hopeless! Oh, he was a strong ninja, but he kept going on about how doing what he said was the shortest way to becoming Hokage and trying to get me to do strange exercises and going into complicated explanations that I couldn't follow. I soon started to look elsewhere for help, and I found it in an unlikely place.

Gramps' office.

I'd grown impatient and bored with what Ebisu was trying to teach me, so I ditched him and tried to ambush Gramps again. Bursting into the office, I raised my kunai... and the floor hit me in the face.

I swear I heard Gramps chuckling.

Before I could get up, someone picked me up and I found myself facing a Hyuuga. I knew she was a Hyuuga because of her eyes, but she wasn't dressed like most of the ones I've seen. Instead of the white, silver and grey robes most of them wear, she had grey trousers, a white t-shirt, a grey sleeveless coat, an odd head-protector which partially covered her cheeks and a metal bandoleer. I looked round and saw that she wasn't the only one there, there was a tall, dark-haired red-eyed woman in a dress that looked like it was made from bandages, a dark-haired boy in a high-necked coat and a blond boy dressed like the girl, but with different colors.

And all of them had those cool bandoleers.

Wow. I _wanted_ one.

"Honorable grandson! Where did you go?"

I sighed as Ebisu appeared and tuned him out as I watched the team leaving. I didn't have much experience, but I could see that they worked together well, there was no pushing or shoving, they just filed out holding the mission scroll.

I decided then and there that I had to see them in action. I would use my super stealth skills to do so.

* * *

.

It turned out that my stealth skills were not anywhere near as super as I thought they were.

My first attempt was using a camouflage sheet to hide against a fence. The sheet would have worked great, had I not been holding it the wrong way. Six _swish-thunks_ later, the sheet was pinned to the fence, I was trapped and the top had been rolled down so I could see the amused expressions of the team.

Embarrassing.

"Not a bad first attempt, you managed to get against the right type of fence." the blond said with a smile as he lifted me out of my sudden prison. Carrying me a few paces, he put me down and turned me around so I could look at the fence.

"Now, do you see what you did wrong?"

I nodded. The fence had upright boards. The lines on my sheet were going across. The girl retreived the kunai that had pinned the sheet and handed it back to me.

"Why not try again?"

* * *

.

The whole morning was like that. I would try to hide, they'd help by showing me what I'd done wrong, and I'd correct it while they gave advice. I learned loads. Check the direction of the camouflage sheet before using it, remember that bushes don't have feet sticking out, rocks aren't square and don't have eye-holes... and I'd been so proud of turning a cardboard box into a fake rock to hide under.

Oh well.

Oh! And I'd learned to adjust my scarf so I no longer tripped over it. Long scarves may look cool, but they slow you down, and for a ninja, that isn't good.

At least I managed to get their names. And I learned more from them than I ever did from Ebisu, he'd always go on about how good I was becoming but team 8? They didn't call me Honourable Grandson, they weren't afraid to point out my errors, they helped correct my mistakes and best of all, they called me by my name!

When it was lunchtime, they invited me to stay and talk, giving me a tray of Bento that Naru had pulled out of one of his storage seals.

I had found my new mentors.

"Honorable grandson!"

Oh crap.

Ebisu had found me.

"Here you are, Honorable Grandson! Kurenai-san, I apologise if my charge has been interfering with your duties."

"Oh, not at all." Kurenai smiled. "In fact, he's been helping out quite a bit. I've been wondering how well my team would do when they reach Jonin and get their own teams, so having them teach Konohamaru here has provided a wonderful test of their skills in that area. And Konohamaru has been an excellent pupil."

Ebisu seemed shocked. I don't know if he blinked, due to those sunglasses he wears all the time, but he was definitely surprised.

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to borrow him for this afternoon as well." Kurenai-sensei said with another smile.

Okay, team 8 were now my favorite team in all of Konoha.

* * *

.

The next day, I was joined by Udon and Moegi as we searched for my new mentors for training since Kurenai had agreed to include my friends. We eventually found them walking towards Gramps' tower and started to follow them, trying out our stealth, nipping from alley to alley and keeping to the shadows like ninjas.

I found out later that they'd spotted us almost as soon as we'd spotted them, but they'd agreed to take notes on how well or badly we did, and correct us later. We followed them until they entered the tower, then hid behind a nearby bush to wait for them to come out.

"They didn't see us." Udon mused after a few minutes. "Are you sure they are as good as you said? We're only academy students, they should have seen us."

"Yeah." Moegi agreed with a pout. "I thought they'd be better than that."

"We are."

Naru's voice came as a real shock. Udon spun round and fell over, Moegi tried to jump away but got tangled in the bush and I leapt sideways... and tripped on a root. When I managed to pick myself up and turned round, all of Team 8 were smiling at us.

"I see you've brought your friends with you today." Kurenai said. "Well, let's get going. I'll give you some lessons while my team do their mission, then they'll rejoin us and we can teach you even more. That sound good?"

"Oh yeah!" "Wow, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!" "Wahooo!"

I still don't know how they didn't laugh at our reactions.

* * *

.

After we reached the training grounds, introduced ourselves and watched as the other members of Team 8 left with their mission scroll, Kurenai pulled out three bandoleers from a storage scroll and handed them to us. Like hers, they had little storage seals on them, and our names were emblazoned on the shoulder-plate, along with the words "Konoha Corps, squad 1".

I instantly put it on, as did Udon and Moegi, and we grinned at each other. We'd seen more and more of the younger ninja, as well as some of the jonin-senseis, sporting the bandoleers, and they'd looked really cool.

And now we did too.

Or so I thought.

"Okay, before we begin, let me tell you about myself." Kurenai said. "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai and I lead team 8 consisting of Naru, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. We are primarily a tracking team with medium combat capabilities when required. I myself am the best Genjutsu user in Konoha."

"And you'll be teaching us?" Udon burst out, before blushing and looking down. Kurenai-sensei smiled at him.

"I'll help you train as long as you're serious about it." she said, instantly earning herself our lifelong devotion. "I have a reciprocal arrangement with some of the other Jonin, so I'll ask them if they're willing to help you as well."

We all started to thank her, but she waved us back down.

"There are several things that need addressing, first. One, your clothing. You'll need strong clothes that can withstand a great deal of wear and tear, and preferably in dark colors to help you hide in the shadows. No spandex, green or otherwise."

"Spandex? Why would we want to wear spandex?" Moegi wondered and Kurenai giggled.

"One of the Jonin I'll be asking for help is rather... eccentric. He's the greatest taijutsu master in Konoha, possibly the world,but his tastes in clothing are... something you have to see to believe. As is one of his students. If they start shouting out each others names, look away as fast as you can, otherwise you'll be mentally scarred for life."

I swallowed heavily. So did Udon.

"I'll also be asking your uncle to help, Konohamaru."

"Uncle Asuma?" I gasped. "But he's teaching the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio."

"Yes, and learning to work with another group is something that all the teams need to do." Kurenai said firmly. "So, that's Gai and Asuma I can probably get in. I'm not sure about Kakashi, but I'll try."

"But most of the time, we'll be with you, right?" I asked eagerly and Kurenai laughed.

"Spare time only. If I catch you ditching the academy, my lessons will stop right then. Understand?"

I swallowed and nodded quickly. So did my friends.

* * *

.

The lessons were mostly enjoyable. Kurenai-sensei arranged it so that when her team left on their first C-rank mission, Uncle Asuma oversaw some of our training alongside team 10. They were mostly nice, but Ino kept calling it 'babysitting', although she did take us on a shopping trip to get good ninja clothing. Udon soon found himself facing Shikamaru in Shogi and although he lost, he did well enough that Shikamaru extended a permanent invitation to him, letting him enter the Nara clan-holding at any time for a rematch.

Uncle Asuma was impressed by that.

We also learned about elemental jutsus and how they were strong or weak against each other, with Uncle Asuma showing his mastery of the Wind element, throwing one of his knives through two trees and into a boulder.

Yes, we were _very_ impressed by that.

Our time with Gai-sensei and team 9 was almost as much fun, but in a far more exhausting way. Fortunately, Hinata's cousin Neji was there to shield us from the worst of Gai's devotion to ' _the flames of youth_!'

I made a mental note to thank Kurenai-sensei for her warning about mental scarring after Moegi was transfixed by their 'sunset genjitsu'. It took her almost half an hour to come out of her shocked trance, and she kept twitching for the rest of the afternoon.

We did get help on our academy-style taijutsu, though. It was almost worth the mental scars of seeing him and Rock Lee in green spandex and orange legwarmers.

Almost.

When Kurenai-sensei returned from the C-rank, she pulled Ebisu into a meeting, arranging a proper rota for us. While we didn't get a chance to train alongside team 7 (Kurenai mumbled something about a pervert being late, I didn't dare ask her what _that_ was about), teams 8, 9 and 10 welcomed us to train alongside them while Gramps gave it his approval.

I think that they had a competition to see who could teach us the best, but I can't prove it.

Oh, and Gramps re-assigned Ebisu.

* * *

.

Things really changed after team 8's second C-rank resulted in four new ninja joining the village. One of them was Momochi Zabuza, who is really, really scary. I don't know if you've met him, but you'd recognize him instantly. He has no eyebrows and a sword bigger than I am. His son, Haku, who you know well, is totally different. Yes, he kinda looks like a girl, but he proved that he was really, really skilled and Gramps promoted him to Chunin and asked squad 1 to show him around Konoha.

Yep, me, Udon and Moegi.

Our example had spread, and there were at least seven other squads in the academy. Gramps approved, since it let the teachers see who naturally worked well with whom, making it easier to assign graduates to teams. And those in a squad helped each other, bringing their overall scores up.

Win!

We showed Haku round, and he told us several tales of his life before and after Zabuza had adopted him. He also asked about our training and when he learned that we were being trained by team 8, he offered to help us.

Apparently how Naru-sempai had arranged his defeat had really impressed him.

Within a few days, Haku had become our unofficial chunin-sensei. It sort-of made sense at the time, teams are genin with a jonin-sensei, so squads are students with a chunin-sensei. Gramps found it amusing and gave his approval. He said it was a good way of getting both students and chunin to a higher level, whatever that means.

When team 8 returned, they were rather surprised to see Haku training us. Sure, it was exhausting, but Haku had a really cool Kekkai Genkai... no, that wasn't meant to be a pun. But yeah, he could make and control ice.

We got cold drinks after each workout.

For Udon and me, it was mainly physical and tactical training. For Moegi, Haku-sensei started her on medical scrolls and arranged for her to help him in the hospital on some of his shifts.

To our suprise, and Haku's as well, Haku got a stipend for his actions as our squad-sensei. It was only a small stipend, nowhere near what a jonin-sensei gets, but him getting it proved to everyone that Gramps approved of him and his actions, shutting up the few bakas who were grumbling over 'foreign ninja'.

Gramps is sneaky.

I have no idea how he sold it to the council.

One thing that I really wanted to learn was something that I saw Hinata and Naru practicing with, and which I saw Neji trying to learn. It looked cool, a weird, sparkly globe of pure chakra spinning in the palm of their hand, but when they pushed it against a target...

Wow!

Seeing it, I asked about it. Naru's explanation captivated me.

"What you saw is an A-ranked technique called the Rasengan. It was a no-hand-sign attack created by the Yondaime Hokage and only a few other ninja, Jaraiya the Toad Sage and Hatake Kakashi, can perform it. Before you ask to learn it, you should know that this technique requires two things. A huge amount of chakra and a high amount of control."

I gave him my best attempt at the Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu and he laughed.

That confused me. How had he become so resistant to it?

I found out several months later that it had been how Hinata had kept him focused, and he'd grown used to it.

And she was able to do it way better than me.

"For chakra quantity, you need to build up your reserves. That means plenty of training, tree walking and other exercises. Haku probably knows them, if not, ask one of the Jonin to help. As for control, once you have mastered the water-walking technique, you may be able to begin training in the basics of Rasengan, assuming your reserves are large enough by then. But there is a condition."

I hid my glee at being told I could learn such a super jutsu and nodded to show I was following him.

"The Rasengan is a special jutsu and for various reasons, I am the one in charge of deciding who can learn it. I will teach it to you, but you aren't allowed to teach it to anyone else without my permission. Also, you cannot use it outside training with me unless your life, or those of the ones you love, are in danger."

"Is it a clan jutsu?" I asked, curious about how an orphan had gained it. Naru nodded.

"The Rasengan is listed amongst the Hyuuga techniques." he said and I nodded. Everyone knew that Naru, despite not being officially adopted into the Hyuuga clan, was pretty much Hiashi's favourite son. Having him learn the Rasengan from the Hyuugas wasn't a suprise, especially given how close he was to Hinata. At the time, it explained things perfectly.

Yeah, his true heritage came as quite a shock to me when I finally found out.

For the next few weeks, I trained hard and he walked me through the first two stages of the Rasengan. By the time the Chunin exams came, I was almost ready. I had the spin and was making progress on the power, all I needed to master was the tenacity.

And there was no way I would give up.

Believe it!

What?


	18. Chapter 18

"What the..?"

Team 10 (with its newest member) stopped as they watched Gai and his chibi-clone Rock Lee, sparring. There was nothing unusual about that sight, except for the fact that the duo were sparring blindfolded.

Asuma stared at the unusual sight, then quietly moved across to Neji, who was watching them with amused tolerance.

"What are they doing?"

"Good morning, Asuma-sensei, team 10." Neji said absently. "It is an idea that Gai came up with after Lee was defeated during the exams. He felt that if Lee could learn to fight blindfolded, then should he ever find himself in a situation similar to the one that resulted in him being rendered unconscious, he could simply close his eyes and continue fighting.

"Apparently, it also has quite an advantage against high-level Sharingan wielders, since they tend to rely on their doujutsu capabilities and if you don't look them in the eye, they can't get you with their genjitsu."

"That… makes sense." Ino admitted. "But… blindfolds?"

"It teaches the use of the other senses." Neji said. "I have tried it myself, and it was very humbling to realise how much I rely on my Byakugan in combat. I may have mastered the Gentle Fist to the point where I can use it without needing to activate my Byakugan, but when I tried to fight blindfolded, I couldn't even hit my opponant, let alone his tenketsu points."

Asuma nodded and they watched until Gai managed to knock Lee down.

"Alright Lee, you lasted a full minute longer this time, your flames of youth are growing at an amazing rate!"

"Thank-you Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Almost as one, Neji, Asuma and Team 10 turned away before they could get caught up in the Sunset Genjutsu.

"Team, go and do the mission. I'll catch up with you. There's something I want to ask Lee." Asuma said. His genin nodded and headed off as Lee and Gai separated and pulled off their blindfolds.

"Gai-sensei, isn't that Asuma-sama with Neji-san?"

"Indeed it is, my beloved student. Come, let us see what he wants!"

Asuma hid a sigh as the duo jogged over, grinning almost manically.

"So, my fellow-jonin, what brings you here on this most youthful of days?"

Asuma shrugged slightly.

"I was wondering about something. Well, two things. I heard that you were both involved in the development of the new Jyuuken styles used by the Hyuuga, and I also heard that you were there when all those teams suddenly decided to flee Konoha just before the exams."

"Lee!" Gai exclaimed. "I need to help Neji-kun continue to master his Jyuuken. While we are doing that, you tell Asuma what he wishes to know!"

"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee half-shouted. As Gai and Neji moved away, Lee sank down to sit cross-legged on the ground.

"Please be seated, Asuma-sama, and I shall begin my tale…"


	19. Lee

I first met my youthful friend Naru at the behest of my wonderful sensei Maito Gai. He explained that the honorable clan-head Hyuuga Hiashi was concerned about the most unyouthful attempt to capture his daughter several years prior and had been working with my wonderfully youthful sensei to fan not only her flames of youth into an inferno, but that of the entire honorable Hyuuga clan also..

The reason that he had chosen Gai-sensei to aid in this endeavor is that, like I hope to be, Gai-sensei is truly gifted in the ways of taijutsu, a result of his being a true genius of hard work. It was his expertise that Hyuuga-sama drew upon to aid in creating new and evermore youthful forms of Jyuuken, incorporating elements from other styles to create new ways of fighting.

I helped with the development of these new styles, learning the katas of the Gentle Fist in the process. Although my inability to mold Chakra and my lack of the Byakugan meant I could not close the tenketsu of my opponents, I was able to assist Gai-sensei in creating the six new styles of the Gentle Fist. There were five reserved for the Hyuuga with Byakugan, one for each elemental-affinity, and the last one based on the Jyuuken, but for those trusted by the Hyuuga to fight by their side. I was overjoyed to be placed in that category with several of my youthful friends and my wonderful sensei.

My friend Hinata, being of the most youthful element of water, learned the Ripple Fist, flowing around enemy attacks and counter-striking with ease. My team-mate Neji chose to fan his flames by mastering the traditional Jyuuken, learning to perform flawlessly even the hundred and twenty-eight palm technique while Tenten learned the companion-style, allowing her to fight alongside Neji, throwing her shuriken and kunai from within his protection without slowing him in the slightest.

At Gai-sensei's urging, I also learned the companion-style to its fullest extent, allowing me to fight alongside any Hyuuga without risking dampening our flames of youth.

For our efforts, we were given special bandoleers by Hinata and Naru. Tenten received the same sort as Neji while Gai-sensei and I got the crossed bandoleers which we adjusted ourselves with extra chakra-weights, but special ones. Let me demonstrate, I undo the tags to release the weights, like so, and...

Nunchuks!

Yes, these most youthful metal nunchuku are also chakra weights, allowing me to train to go faster and have strong weapons that few know how to counter!

Oh, sorry. I'll put them away now.

When the chunin exams were announced, Gai-sensei decided that we had advanced enough to be able to prove ourselves. For the few weeks beforehand, Gai-sensei brought in another Jonin to help us prepare, the former missing-nin Momochi Zabuza and his son, chunin Momochi Haku, although the youthful Haku came only a few times, as he was helping to fan the flames of youth of the Hokage's grandson and his two friends.

It is perhaps fortunate that they did not hold a grudge about our previous meeting.

Our first sparring session was indeed youthful. Haku's speed in his Demonic Ice Mirror technique was incredible. If Gai-sensei had not told me to drop my weights during the spar, I doubt that I could have equaled him. It was a most invigorating bout indeed.

Haku went against Neji next and it proved most interesting. Neji used his Byakugan, but Haku's speed and ability to attack from several different directions almost simultaneously overwhelmed Neji's defenses and left his pride slightly damaged.

Tenten, however, was otherwise occupied. My energetic team-mate is interested in weapons, and the zanbatou used by Zabuza-san caught her attention. It was somewhat amusing to see the famed Demon of the Mist fleeing from someone half his size. He said later that enemies and targets he knew how to deal with, but fangirls were a new and unexpected threat. Nevertheless, his agility proved to be most inspiring, and his stealth skills were astounding. Tenten-chan almost lost him a dozen times.

* * *

.

The day of the first exam dawned bright and clear. I met up with my beautiful sensei and my youthful team-mates for a warm-up session before heading for the building where the exams were being held. On the way, we witnessed a confrontation between team 7 and a trio of sand-nin genin into whom Konohamaru had stumbled.

I was about to intercede when Konohamaru managed to use the special tag set into the bandoleer that he had been given by our youthful friend Naru. Immediately, several Kage Bunshin appeared and one of them kawarimi'd with Konohamaru before dispelling.

It was a truly youthful move, since in doing so it gave Naru himself knowledge of what was happening, so that he could decide if further action was necessary, be it more Kage Bunshin, using the tag as a target, or he himself appearing.

As it turned out, further intervention was not needed. With Konohamaru freed and pulled out of the way by one of Naru's clones, the other clones worked to separate the two teams and try to calm the situation down, pointing out that no harm had been done and that the exams would soon start, the situation was soon resolved without any unyouthful actions occurring.

Impressed at Naru's diplomatic skills, my team and I continued on our way. I decided to follow his example for the rest of the day and to not fight needlessly if I could avoid it.

* * *

.

With the aid of Neji's Byakugan, we bypassed the genjutsu-laced door (a most unyouthful trick, in my opinion), and entered the correct door. Soon, all of the Rookie 12 were there, as well as many other teams, and while we were swapping observations, an older Konoha genin came over and introduced himself as Kabuto. I immediately felt sorry for him, since this was his seventh attempt at the Chunin exams, but I was curious to know what he had learned about them.

"...and these cards contain information about the participants." he said, holding up a deck of cards. "If there is anyone who has caught your eye, I can give you details about them."

"What can you tell us about Gaara of the Sand... Rock Lee and Naru?" Sasuke asked and I twitched slightly as I heard my name being mentioned.

"Oh you know their names already? That's no fun." Kabuto pouted as he sorted through his cards and pulled out three of them. Placing the first one on a desk, he channeled chakra into it, causing it to change from a blank card into one with my picture on it. "Let's see Rock Lee is first, He's done about twenty D-rank and eleven C-rank missions. Not bad considering he's a year older than you. He excels at Taijutsu, second only to Maito Gai, but ninjutsu and genjutsu are nearly non existent due to a medical condition.. This will be his first time entering with his team-mates Tenten and Neji."

I nodded. The information was accurate.

"Next up is Sabaku no Gaara. His team has completed eight C-rank and, wow, one B-rank mission. It says he's come back from every one of them unharmed. A genin doing a B-rank is highly unusual, but to be unharmed afterward is unheard of. Skills are unknown, but this is also his first year along with his teammates and siblings, his older brother Kankurō and their older sister Temari. And finally we have... hmmmmm... that's odd."

Everyone went quiet as Kabuto frowned at the cards. "Who are Naru's team-mates?"

"Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino." Sakura replied, her face confused. "Why?"

Kabuto sorted through his deck, pulling out two more cards and activating them, showing Hinata and Shino's stats.

"It seems that Naru may not be not his real name. Let's see... team-mates, team-mates... ah! Here we are, Aburame Shino, team-mates Hyuuga Hinata and... that can't be right?"

"What can't?" half of the 12 asked.

"The second name's blank on both of them. Hmmm, let's see... blond from Konoha... blond from Konoha..."

Sasuke scoffed and stalked off, Sakura following him.

"Aha, here we are! Two blonds, Yamanaka Ino and... Namikaze Naruto?"

Everyone went silent and we all turned to stare at Naru, who looked round.

"...what?"

"...Namikaze? As in Minato? The Yondaime Hokage? Your card must be wrong." Kiba asked, disbelief filling his voice, but then another voice sounded.

"His hair... his eyes... OH KAMI! THE YELLOW FLASH HAD A KID! RUUUUNNNNN!"

With a speed that even I would be hard-pushed to match without dropping my weights, seven of the teams fled the room, mostly through the windows. I managed to see the hitai-ate's of the fleeing teams, they were from Iwa.

"...originally known as Uzumaki Naruto, parents Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina..." Kabuto said slowly, reading from the card that now held Naru's image.

"SHIT! HE'S THE RED-HAIRED HABANERO'S SON! RUN BEFORE HE KILLS US ALL!"

Another five teams, these ones from Kiri, followed the Iwa nins.

Through the windows.

I was confused.

I wasn't the only one.

What was going on?

Who was Naru, really?

You could have heard a senbon drop. From the other side of the room, Sasuke was looking round in bewilderment at the suddenly-less-crowded room.

I guess he hadn't heard Kabuto's revelations.

"Alright brats, settle down! My name's Ibiki and... shouldn't there be more of you?"

"Ummmm, the Iwa and Kiri teams realized they needed to be somewhere else." Tenten mumbled, looking at the broken windows, then her gaze drifted round and became even more confused. "We seem to have lost the Kumo teams as well... nope... what are you doing? Leave Naru alone! Stop bowing to him!"

Ibiki shook his head. "Alright, everyone to your seats... I guess we'll have some spare seats for this stage. And someone tell me exactly what in Kami's name I missed."

* * *

.

Naru surprised us all at the end of the exam with his tactical insight. Ibiki had let us choose whether or not we wished to take the tenth question and several teams, none of which were from Konoha, had departed. Naru remained silent until Sakura began to move as if she was about to leave, then he slammed his fist on his desk.

"I think we've waited long enough, Ibiki. Give us the question, or I'll grab it from your desk myself and read it out to everyone. None of us are going to quit, so give us the damned question."

Ibiki glared at him, but his youthful speech had inspired us all. After a few minutes, Ibiki sighed.

"There is no tenth question. You have all passed."

The silence that followed was broken by Kiba shouting "What?"

Ibiki glowered. "The tenth question was a test to see if you were willing to risk losing everything to complete a mission. You all passed that test, the mission has been completed. Now..."

Ibiki was interrupted by a very familiar zanbatou flying in through one of the broken windows and embedding itself in the wall. Before we could recover, Zabuza appeared, standing on top of it.

"Alright... only thirteen teams? Wow, Ibiki. I thought _I_ was brutal."

"Not me." Ibiki sighed. " _Someone_ managed to scare all of the Iwa and Kiri teams away. Kabuto, after the next stage, you and I are going to have a long talk about how you got that information about Naru, then you are going to be transferred to T&I. Whether it's as a prisoner or researcher will depend on what I learn. And Inoichi Yamanaka _will_ be involved."

Kabuto nodded and Zabuza cleared his throat.

"Okay, head over to training area 44, my assistant and I will be waiting there. You have two hours to grab what you need for a five day high-risk survival mission. Move!"

I joined my team and we left through the windows.

Youthfully.


	20. Chapter 20

"No… no… no… yes! Here we are, the perfect blend of style and usefulness, and it'll set off your eyes perfectly!"

Moegi accepted the top and darted into the changing room. A moment later, she emerged and gave a twirl.

"Are you corrupting my student, Ino-san?" a familiar voice asked and Ino spun round with a wide smile.

"Haku-san! Are you here for a makeover? Would you like to go masculine or feminine this time?"

Haku smiled as he fended off the over-excited fashion queen.

"I came to pick up my new formal robes for the wedding." He said and Ino's eyes brightened.

"Oh Kami! Please, you have to show me what they look like! You know I'm the fashion and style goddess of Konoha. Moegi, try using this belt, with these storage pouches. As a med-nin student, you can never have too many pouches, even with that bandoleer of yours."

Haku smiled as his student vanished into one of the changing cubicles and Ino turned to face him.

"Ummm, she isn't meant to be doing a D-rank or be at the hospital, is she?"

"No, this is her free time, and she seems to be enjoying herself very much." Haku said with a soft smile. "What you said about pouches is quite correct, there are many situations where you don't have the time to unseal anything."

"And times when seals are your best friend." Ino responded, stroking the bracer that she wore on her left arm. Haku's eyes settled on it and he raised his brow.

"That isn't the one you used before… and your bandoleer..?"

"After the preliminaries, I turned my bandoleer into my new belt." Ino said, stroking it with a grin. "Storage seals at the front and sides, pouches at the back. And Naru was willing to make me a new shadow-bracer with the hiraishin tag built into it. Defense and reinforcement all in one."

Haku nodded. "I see. Functional and decorative.

Ino nodded. "Yep. The Shadow-bracer saved my life during the exams."

Moegi emerged from the changing room, a curious expression on her face.

"Ino-san, what do you mean?"

"I admit to curiosity as well." Haku said.

"It was in the scariest place in Konoha…" Ino started.


	21. Ino

The Forest of Death.

Even now, the name still causes me to shiver.

I'll never forget.

I thought that the exam had been bad enough, but when we met up outside training area 44, it was really, really scary.

The area outside was alright. Sure, we had to face the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza, but considering that he'd been known to run away from Tenten when she went fangirl about his sword, I figured he wasn't going to claim he was the scariest thing around.

I was right.

"Alright, brats, listen up. You may think I'm scary, but this forest is worse. You'll have five days to reach the tower in the middle, but don't think it's that simple."

His glower was ferocious as he motioned and his son, Haku, held up two scrolls.

"Each team will get a scroll, either Heaven or Earth. To finish, your entire team needs at least one of each scroll when you arrive at the tower. There is no upper limit, but be aware that the longer you stay out there, the more of a target you are. My advice, when you have the two scrolls, get to the tower fast to rest up for the next stage.

"Be aware that we expect fatalities, so you all need to sign a form releasing Konoha from responsibility and liability if you die. No form, no scroll and no possible promotion.

"Once you've signed your lives away and got your scrolls, you'll report to one of the gates and wait for the start signal before entering. If at any time you wish to quit, get to one of the gates and exit so we can get your cowardly ass back to your sensei. Be aware that your full team is needed to pass, so if one of your team dies, you may as well leave.

"Any questions? Tough. Get signing."

* * *

.

The gate opened up in front of us and we stepped into hell.

Shikamaru took charge since I was obviously nervous.

"Alright, tell me what you're carrying on you, both ready for use and sealed in the bandoleers of yours."

Yeah, Shikamaru had decided that trying to get a bandoleer for himself was 'too troublesome'.

Typical.

Choji instantly reeled off his weapons, mainly kunai and ninja wire, as well as enough rations to last us a month. I followed suit, ending with...

"...and a shadow tag bracelet."

Both Shikamaru and Choji looked at me in confusion.

"What's one of them?"

I held up my left arm. "If I channel my chakra into this tag, it releases a kage bunshin of Naru and sends out a signal that we're in trouble."

Shikamara frowned thoughtfully. "I... see. We'll only use that as a last resort since we have no way of knowing what scroll Naru's team has and telling him we're in trouble may inspire him to take advantage of us. But reinforcements at will... that increases the possibilities. Alright, Choji, can you sense anyone near us?"

Choji closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Two teams, one that way, the other over there and closing in. Neither feels familiar."

Shikamara nodded.

"The one incoming is probably tracking us somehow. If we lead them to the other team you sensed, we might be able to take advantage of them fighting each other. Let's go."

* * *

.

Shikamaru's plan worked and the two teams crossed paths. We stayed undercover to watch and it was brutal.

The three who had been chasing us fell on the other team, who happened to be from Suna. The Sand siblings.

The fight barely lasted a minute as the youngest used his sand to trap and kill the other team, letting them grab the dropped heaven scroll and head off towards the tower.

"That... was scary."

I nodded, unable to get the image of the red-haired boy's eager expression as he killed the trio out of my head.

"I... I think we need to find another team. One not so scary."

Shikamara nodded and Choji closed his eyes in concentration.

"I think... there's a cluster over that way, three teams, I think."

* * *

.

There was indeed a cluster, but to use a phrase I heard my father use when he thought I wasn't listening, it was a _cluster-fuck_.

Don't give me that look. I said it was my father's phrase.

Team 7 was there, but Sakura was the only one up. Kiba was curled up by a cave, his ribs obviously broken, while Sasuke was inside the cave, out cold.

Facing Sakura and each other was a team from Grass and a team from Sound.

"We need to do something." I whispered as the two full teams agreed to a truce while they killed Sasuke and the others.

"Summon reinforcements." Shaikamaru said as he prepared his shadow-bind. "Choji, get Kiba into the cave and guard the entrance with Sakura. Ino and I'll join you as soon as we can."

I nodded and placed my right hand on the bracelet. Closing my eyes, I channeled my chakra into it.

"What's up?"

Naru's voice startled me and I looked round to see four of him looking at me curiously.

"Naru-clones, we need a defensive perimeter around the cave." Shikamaru said. "I am aware of the weakness of shadow-clones, so Choji'll open the way their for you. Get Kiba and Sakura inside so she can start healing them, then back Choji up."

The clones nodded.

I found myself getting a new appreciation for Naru.

* * *

.

The battle was intense. The sound-trio put up a good fight, but when I managed to mind-grab one of them and use him to backstab the other two, the odds became better. Choji managed to take down one of the grass-nin, fortunately the one with the scroll. The other two escaped.

Both my team and Team 7 were able to assemble the required pairing of scrolls after the battle died down, but Sasuke and Kiba were both out cold, although Sakura had managed to at least partially-heal Kiba's ribs.

I asked her what had happened to leave them in such a state.

"We were headed towards the tower, trying to get close enough to lay a trap to get the scroll we needed when we were attacked by a Grass-nin." Sakura said, her voice quavering with suppressed shock. "She was strong, freakishly strong, and she almost killed Kiba with a single strike. Akamaru tried to attack and was sent flying, I managed to catch him, but I think he's still dazed from the blow.

Sasuke attacked the kunoichi, first with fireballs, then with his fists. She laughed, and then… and then she _bit_ him! Her neck extended and she bit him on his shoulder, there's a really strange mark there and I know it isn't good, but I can't do anything about it, my skills aren't good enough.

After Sasuke went down, the ninja just left and I dragged Sasuke and Kiba here, but before I could get traps down, two more teams found me and they were about to kill us when you showed up!"

I gave Sakura a reassuring hug, feeling her shivering. I thought that I'd had it bad, but she was going to need some serious therapy to get her back to how she usually was.

I made a mental note to get my dad to help. He's known as the best for a reason, after all.

Shikamaru and Choji set some basic traps around the cave and we settled in for the night.

I fell asleep with Sakura still curled up to me for comfort and reassurance.

* * *

.

The next day, we had six shadow-clones guarding us, and Kiba was able to move.

Sasuke was still out cold.

We held a quick conference to decide on what to do and how to do it.

"We have our scrolls." Shikamaru said, one eye looking at the clone who had joined our meeting. The clone grinned.

"Oh, don't worry about us. Boss and his group finished before the end of the first day. We're here because you needed help."

We were all surprised by that.

"So what are the limits of your aid?" Shikamaru asked. The clone grinned.

"We won't participate in any attack you make. We'll scout ahead for you, but only to direct you away from other teams and we'll relay only their location, not any tactical details. We won't carry you, you need to make it to the tower by your own power, but if you're attacked, we'll buy you a few minutes to escape. And if you wish to quit, we can Hiraishin you to outside the Forest."

"We're not quitting!" I stated firmly and the clone laughed.

"That's the spirit. The tower is that way. How you make it is up to you."

Shikamaru nodded. "I see. Then this is what we'll do. I want some of the clones ahead of us in a sweep formation. Choji and I will carry Sasuke on a litter, Ino will switch with me as we move. Sakura will use her medical abilities on Kiba and Sasuke whenever we pause for a break. Kiba and Akamaru will bring up the rear, using their hearing and noses to warn us of anyone closing in. Anyone see a problem? Good. Then let's make the litter and move out before it gets too… Sakura, where did you get that?"

Sakura blushed as she put down the litter that she was holding and began to assemble it. "I had it sealed away. I forgot I had it until you said we needed a litter."

"Troublesome."

* * *

.

We managed to reach the tower without encountering any other teams. However, things almost went to hell when we reached the tower.

Sasuke woke up.

The mark on him expanded, covering a large part of him with black stripes, almost looking like wounds. His chakra changed, becoming visible and purple, and he started to lash out. He sent Choji into a tree and backhanded Kiba into a wall.

I froze.

Yeah. Not a great thing for a Kunoichi to do, but his chakra, it just _felt_ wrong. He started to laugh and turned on Shikimaru.

And then Naru was there.

He started with a spinning kick that he must have learned from Lee, sending Sasuke flying, before summoning over two dozen clones. Before Sasuke could recover, Naru was all over him, striking him on pressure points and keeping him off-balance until Sasuke collapsed.

"That should keep him out for a bit. You may as well enter now, Shino says that another team is closing in, and you're in no shape to fight them. Get inside and you'll be safe."

And then he vanished in a flash of golden light.

"I suggest we do as the troublesome blond says." Shikamaru said as he helped Choji up.

And so we did.

It took us the rest of the five-day period to fully recover, Choji was overjoyed to find out that there was a food court, and that someone had arranged to have it over-supplied for him.

As for me, I spent some time thinking about Naru.

There was so much about him that I did not know, and needed to find out.

My status as the gossip-queen of Konoha depended on it!


	22. Chapter 22

"Come to me, beautiful Dango! Come to meeee!"

Kurenai hid a smirk as her best friend gathered the three plates of dango and expertly balanced them on one hand as she grabbed the first stick and started to eat it, a look of pure contentment on her face.

"The only time I've seen you looking like that without dango is when you're soaking in the hot springs back at the mansion." Kurenai laughed.

Anko glared at her.

"Not true. I also look like this when Dolphin-kun is there for me to lean against."

"That's true." An amused voice said from behind them. "My Hebi-hime only looks that blissed-out when eating dango, soaking or curled up in my… ooof!"

With the ease of practice, Kurenai caught the dango and smiled at the sight before her. Iruka's face was covered in a wide grin as Anko snuggled up to him, burying her face against the side of his neck.

"Mmmmmmm, Iruka." Anko half-whispered. "Oh, this is a wonderful day, I have my Iruka-kun and my… where's my dango?"

Kurenai handed the dango back and Anko started to eat it with single-minded intensity, then she paused and handed one of the sticks over to Iruka. Kurenai shook her head with amused toleration as Iruka and Anko proceeded to feed their dango to each other.

"I swear, you two are worse than Naru and Hinata." She half-scolded and Anko pouted at her.

"Don't be like that, 'nai-san." She mock-whinged. "Iruka-kun, 'nai-san's being mean to me!"

Iruka managed not to choke as he suppressed his laughter. "She does have a point, you know. I mean, Naru and Hinata have been together pretty much since they were six, so they've had time to settle down into their relationship."

"And we're still in the _great-sex-at-any-time_ stage of ours!" Anko proclaimed with a wide grin, then she stopped speaking and chomped down on the dango that Iruka was holding in front of her.

"I was hoping to catch up with you." Iruka admitted. "I was talking to the Sandaime and he made mention of the fact that Naru didn't use the Hiraishin publicly until the finals. And Naru just said that he won the preliminaries. I was wondering, what happened?"

"Oooh, ooh!" Anko exclaimed, having just finished her second plate of Dango. "I can tell you!"


	23. Anko

After seeing my Otouto's team smashing all the records for completing the Forest of Death, I had to find him and ask him how he did it.

"It was a team effort." Hinata explained to me. "Naru had prepared a small Hiraishin tag, as small as he could possibly make it and still have it survive a single use, and Shino used his bugs to fly it to the tower. Naru then sent a couple of shadow clones with a proper tag and then all we had to do was track down a Heaven scroll before making the jump."

"But who did you defeat?" I asked, eager for details. Hinata shrugged.

"It was Kabuto's team. They fought okay, but the one who tried to drain Naru's chakra suffered severe chakra burns, and the flexible one tried to grab me. He didn't stand a chance against my _Kaiten_. That left Kabuto, he surrendered his scroll and dragged his team-mates off to heal them."

I wondered what had happened to Kabuto. My boss had been looking forwards to talking to him.

Come to think about it, I still don't know what happened to him.

Something to look into, I guess.

Anyway, at the end, over half the teams were out. The Rookie 12 were there, as was the sand-sibling team from Suna and a team from Sound.

That was it. Six teams, 18 genin.

Fighting time!

I tuned out the Sandaime's speech about how the tests were a replacement for war. Instead, I watched the teams. The three Sound chunin seemed... nervous, but not because of the tests. They seemed to be hiding something. The Sand siblings were also nervous, but it was as if they were afraid of their youngest sibling, not the possibility of losing.

Hey, I was Orochimaru's student. I learned a lot from him before he abandoned me for not being evil enough.

Or strong enough. Or perverted... you know, I'm not exactly sure _why_ he abandoned me.

But I'm glad he did.

Of the Konoha teams, my otouto and his girl seemed to be the most confident. Sasuke was still arrogant, but he occasionally rubbed the side of his neck.

 _That_ caught my attention.

When he shifted position to look at the screens showing the names of those who were going to fight, I saw a heart-stoppingly familiar sight.

The Curse seal.

Fuck!

Hebi-teme had marked him! Orochimaru had placed the damned curse seal on Sasuke! He'd claimed the Uchiha!

The first fight started, one of the Sound, the girl, against Shikamaru, the kid genius. I moved to beside Hiruzen.

"We may have a problem with Sasuke..." I whispered. He nodded as the girl threw several pairs of senbon at Shikamaru.

"I already know about the curse seal, Anko. Kakashi will use an influence-restraining seal to prevent it gaining any more control once these matches are over."

I nodded, then winced as Shikamaru, who had somehow managed to catch the girl in his shadow despite her sound-based genjutsu and used his own jutsu to ram her head into the wall, knocking her out.

"Damn, he's good." I noted.

* * *

.

Most of the other matches went by in a blur, with some interesting techniques used. The Sound guy lost against Shino who managed to plug his arm-cannons with bugs, causing a very nasty backblast that took his arms off.

The fight between Temari of Suna and Tenten was brutal. When Tenten realised that her weapons weren't going to penetrate Temari's wind defence, she switched to using a naginata and Temari found herself severely on the defensive. Zabuza was smirking as Tenten's blade damaged Temari's battle-fan and clothing before Temari got a lucky shot in. It was aimed at Tenten's gut, but Tenten ducked at _just_ the wrong time. Although Temari won, she fell over a minute later, bleeding and too exhausted to move. Some bandages and a blood pill soon had her back to a point where she could watch, though.

Zabuza carried Tenten to the infirmary. He glared at everyone as he did so.

I hadn't realized that he was such a softy. I wasn't surprised, though, I knew that Gai had asked Zabuza to help him train Tenten. I guess she'd grown on him.

Gaara of Suna took out the other Sound guy, encasing him in sand, then crushing him.

The scary part was the reactions of his siblings and his Jonin-sensei.

They expected it.

What the hell was that kid? Who raises a psycho like that, and why? Brat was probably almost as big a threat to his allies as his enemies.

Sasuke passed when Sakura forfeited rather than fight him, not surprising given her fangirl outlook. Kakashi promptly whisked him off to try and deal with the curse mark.

I wished him luck. My otouto's still looking into how to get rid of the one I have, but at least he's put a damned good seal round it.

Lee went up against Ino and flattened her. Poor girl didn't have time to do her mind-swap jutsu before Lee KO'd her with the neatest set of Goken strikes I ever saw. Sakura smirked at Ino's loss until Kurenai pointed out that _she_ hadn't even managed to _throw_ a single punch, unlike Ino.

Sakura promptly left in a huff to 'help look after Sasuke-kun'.

Girl was backsliding.

Then again, she was surprisingly good at medical-ninjutsu for a genin, so she may have had a valid excuse.

Choji found himself up against Kankuro, the Suna puppeteer, who made the mistake of calling him fat.

Big mistake.

No pun intended.

After five minutes of Kankuro's adrenaline-boosted panicked dodging of Choji's high-speed meat-tank technique and the loss of two puppets, smashed to pieces, Choji finally succumbed to the low-level non-lethal poison needles Kankuro had managed to stab him with at the start of the match. Kankuro didn't win, though. Kami knows how, but when Choji fell over, it was straight onto Kankuro.

Mutual KO.

We all made a note. Never call Choji fat.

It was quite funny, though.

Then the two fights I had been waiting for.

Hinata went up against Kiba, the cocky little brat. Despite being slammed down by his family every time he did something bone-headed, he was still convinced he was a true Alpha. _That_ fight I remember fully.

The two of them walked down to in front of us and Hinata settled into her Ripple Fist stance while Kiba just stretched a bit before taking his stance. Genma gave the signal to start, but Kiba decided talking was better.

"Hey, Hinata, before we fight, I have to know. Kabuto was lying, yeah? No way that dobe could really be the son of the Fourth. I mean, if he was, he'd be awesome, like me, not a wuss who hides behind you."

Hinata glared at him. And when a Hyuuga uses their Byakugan glare on you, it is a _**Glare**_!

I wouldn't have liked to have been on the receiving end of that one.

"Naru is indeed Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage, Kiba. He is the one to whom not only I, but the Hyuuga clan as a whole owe a full Eye Debt to. He saved me and believes in me, and I will not let him down, especially not against a mongrel like you."

You tell them, girl!

That infuriated Kiba and he attacked instantly.

Big mistake.

Hinata had been prepared for his attack. Heck, she had planned for it. She told me later that she had pre-scripted possible insults for use against as many of the others as possible in order to get them to attack without thinking.

And then she used her trump card.

Rasengan!

Wow!

As Kiba slammed into the wall, leaving a crater to mark his sudden halt, I forced my eyes away from the spinning sphere of chakra in her outstretched hand and looked at the other watchers. Most of them looked shocked by Hinata's technique, but Shino looked... irritated. As if he should have known about it, but had overlooked it until now. Naru was grinning widely and Neji was... smirking.

Hiraishin _and_ Rasengan?

If I had any doubts about Hinata-chan being a good match for my otouto, those doubts had been slammed as hard as Kiba.

Hinata's glare traveled around the room and I was impressed at the amount of Killing Intent behind it.

Oh, I could do far better, but for a genin, she was _good_.

"If anyone else has anything bad they wish to say about my fiancee," she said in a voice that would have frozen a volcano, "then I suggest that they first get a team of med-nins on stand-by. They will need them."

You go, girl!

The final match was Neji versus Naru.

Or as the screen said, Hyuuga Neji versus Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto.

My wonderful otouto's full name.

Heh.

Guess it was official.

Both of them descended from the balcony, stopped in front of each other and waited for the match to begin before Neji spoke.

"I concede this match to you, Naru-sama. Your skills and techniques are better than mine by far. And should I somehow miraculously manage to best you in defiance of all probability and fate, I am certain that Hinata-san would proceed to defeat me quite painfully in the finals.  
"There is no shame in forfeiting to one who is stronger when there is nothing to be gained from fighting but pain. I cannot defeat you and should I try, my injuries would stop me from serving Konoha for a significant amount of time.  
"I yield to one who is my superior, Naruto-sama."

My eyes were open so wide I'm sure I looked like Rock Lee as Neji knelt and bowed formally, the sort of bow a Samurai would give his Lord. As the match was called, Naru pulled Neji back to his feet and spoke quietly to him, then the two of them briefly hugged before bowing to each other, Neji smiling openly as they did so.

A Hyuuga male showing emotion?

That never happens.

But it was undeniable. Neji was indeed smiling. It wasn't a genjutsu or someone masquerading as him, my otouto's girlfriend's cousin was, in defiance of all the decades of Hyuuga tradition and decorum, smiling in public.

Wow.

"Could the winners please come down to the arena?"

Neji moved to the back of the arena as the other winners trooped down and lined up by Naru, except of course for Sasuke. Genma walked along, holding a box that each of them pulled a single piece of paper from. After they read out the numbers, I smiled.

In a month's time, the final matches would be :-

Shikamaru vs Temari

Naru vs Lee (Wow, that one would be interesting)

Gaara versus Sasuke

and Hinata versus Shino.

Ooh, it was going to be _fun_!


	24. Chapter 24

"I hear you're the strongest shinobi in Konoha."

Jiraiya started to preen at the kid's statement. "Yes indeed. I am the Sage of Toad Mountain, the master of understanding the hearts of women and the most skilled practitioner of the art of seals! The Kunoichi throw themselves at me for I am none other than Jaraiya the Toad Sage of the Densetsu no Sannin!"

A blank stare was his response and he sighed.

"Tough crowd. Alright kid, who are you and what do you want?"

The boy looked at him as if reconsidering his actions.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, genin of Hatake Kakashi."

"Ah!" Jiraiya laughed. "Little 'kashi-kun! You know I trained his teacher, right?"

"I… was unaware of that." Sasuke deadpanned. "I know he reads your books. However, if I am to defeat the one who betrayed the Uchiha clan, and Konoha, I need to get stronger. I have made progress, but I am not strong enough. I was… hoping that you would be willing to provide me with supplementary training."

Jiraiya paused and looked down at the young shinobi.

"Supplementary training. You're not asking me to take you away from 'kashi-kun?"

Sasuke almost smirked, but he shook his head.

"I have seen what happens when one abandons team-mates… friends… in search of power. Orochimaru was strong, but I choose not to follow his path. Ideally, I would ask you to provide my entire team with extra training in the mornings since our sensei is always late, but I am aware that as a Sannin, you have many responsibilities that are far more important than mere genin."

Jiraiya gave him a long look.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but what happened to the arrogance that the Uchiha clan were known for?"

"I went up against a samurai trainee in the Land of Iron and got my ass handed to me." Sasuke snorted. "It let me activate my Sharingan, but it proved to me that my arrogance had blinded me to my weaknesses. So I decided to learn more and start listening to others."

"Land of Iron…" Jiraiya mused. "I think I heard Kakashi moaning about that. Naruto was in Konoha the whole time."

"Did you know about that?" Sasuke asked curiously nd Jiraiya shook his head.

"At the time, no." Jiraiya said. "I found out just before the finals. Walk with me and I'll tell you the story."


	25. Jiraiya

The day after the first and second stages of the chunin tests ended was the day I returned to Konoha with news for my Sensei. Travelling through Konoha, I ascended the Hokage's tower and paused in the window to watch my sensei enjoying one of my masterpieces of literature.

It's _not_ smut! It's _art_!

Ahem.

To my amusement, Sarutobi dropped the book, _Icha Icha Traveller_ , available in all good bookshops at a _very_ reasonable price, _highly_ recommended, into his desk drawer as I dropped into his office.

"Hey, old man." I said, "I have good news and bad news."

"You had better give me the bad news first."

I nodded and pulled out my notebook.

No, not that one, my other one. I keep work and research separate. I may be seen as a pervert, but that's only when I'm not working.

"I finally managed to get a report out of the new village, Sound. They're led by my old team-mate Orochimaru. Kami knows what that bastard's doing with a whole village at his beck and call. Strong rumor says he's looking for a way to strike back at Konoha."

Sarutobi didn't seem surprised.

"He's managed to place one of his curse marks on Uchiha Sasuke." he said. "Kakashi used an evil-restraining seal on it, like the one you used on Anko, but I'd like you to take a look at it some time. And it seems he may have had help. A genin, a med-nin named Kabuto, vanished in the Forest of Death. We found the mangled corpses of his team-mates, but Kabuto himself has vanished without a trace."

Shit. That was bad.

"Okay. Good news, I learned that my student's son has been spotted in Wave a while ago, along with his girlfriend who has a _really_ nice figure, according to my informant."

Sensei was smirking.

Okay, that wasn't right. The only time he smirks at me like that is when he knows something that I think I know, but actually don't.

No, that sentence _did_ make sense.

Trust me. I am a literary genius, after all.

I looked at him and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"It would seem that, barring missions and Hiraishin excursions, Minato's son has been living in Konoha all along."

...what.

"His identity was revealed during the first stage of the exams and has become the hottest piece of gossip in the village. You really should try to keep up with things, my student."

...what?

His smirk had somehow got wider.

"It would seem that Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto has been living amongst us under the name of Naru, an orphan supported by the Hyuuga clan and who is currently engaged to the former heiress, Hinata."

...what!

"I have given full approval to their marriage once the exams are over, irrespective of any promotions they receive. I know that twelve is a bit young, but since they are already living together and, according to my understanding, sharing the same bed, it is little more than a formality."

"..."

"Jiraiya?"

I managed to shake myself out of my daze.

"I... I'm alright. He's been here, all this time? Dammit! I've been scouring the elemental nations for him! I've suffered frostbite and heatstroke chasing him and he's been... here... all..."

I couldn't help it. I collapsed with laughter. Rather hysterical laughter, but laughter nonetheless. Fortunately Sarutobi understood and waited for me to calm myself down.

"I suggest you make yourself presentable. I have business to discuss with Hyuuga Hiashi, and I think you'll want to meet your godson."

* * *

.

I rose as a trio of figures entered the room. The first was Hiashi, tall and proud. On his left side was a beautiful young girl who just had to be the apparently-legendary Hinata.

But it was the person on the right who transfixed me.

He was wearing the formal robes of a Hyuuga, except instead of grey and white, his were black and silver. His long, blond hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail while his blue eyes looked at me curiously.

Apart from the whisker lines on each cheek, he could easily have been Minato reborn.

"...and this is my former student, Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin. He trained your father, Naru."

Naru. So that was how he'd managed to hide. I would have laughed had the situation not been so serious. A shortened name, hide the whiskers and pow! Invisibility.

From the looks I was receiving, it was not the time to do my normal introduction.

Shame. I love seeing people's reactions to my silly dance and monologue. It makes them underestimate me.

We sat down and Naru looked at me with cold eyes.

"I understand that you are my godfather." He said. "Yet I do not recall seeing you around when I was young."

I felt like I had taken a kunai to the heart. But his honesty demanded honesty in return.

"My position as leader of the intelligence service of Konoha required me to go into the field almost constantly, into some very high-risk situations." I said, trying not to sound like I was making excuses. "You are the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, both of whom were feared by Iwa and Kiri respectively. I trained your father. Had any of your parents enemies seen me near you, with your blond hair, they would have reached the conclusion that you were the son of the Yellow Flash. At best, they would have killed you. At worst, handed you over to Iwa to be slowly tortured to death for vengeance against your father.  
"In addition, there is your status as a Jinchuuriki. There is a group called Akatsuki which is seeking to locate all the Jinchuuriki for purposes as yet unknown. As a small child, you would have been very vulnerable outside Konoha.  
"My intention was to have you raised in an orphanage until you reached an age to become an academy student, then give you an apartment to live in until you reached Chunin. When you did, I or Sarutobi would have explained to you about your burden and heritage, and then we would have brought you to your parents home so you could learn all their jutsus and claim your inheritance.  
"We never counted on Danzo trying to seize control of you, of your status as Jinchuuriki being leaked to the civilians or your early expulsion from the orphanage. When we found out, I earmarked an apartment for you to move into as soon as we could find or manufacture a reason, but you vanished without trace."

Naru nodded slowly and I released a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"After you vanished, I made finding you my first priority. We thought you'd been taken from Konoha, so I had my agents across the five nations searching for you. Rumors kept popping up all over the place, especially over the last year or so... I guess that was you using your dads most famous jutsu."

Naru smiled slightly and nodded.

"That is correct, Jaraiya-san. In fact, it led to one genin team trekking over to the Land of Iron to try and find me. I haven't had a chance to talk to them since my identity was revealed, but since only one of them is heading through to the finals..."

"Sasuke has already been taken out of Konoha by Kakashi for training." Hiruzen interjected. "Given how Kakashi holds himself apart from the rest of the Jonin, I would be willing to bet that neither of them actually know about your true identity."

Naru smirked. "It'll come as quite a surprise to the emo at the finals, huh? Good, it might finally dislodge that stick of his."

I blinked and made a mental note to catch up with everything that had been going on in the village. But first, I had some bridges to rebuild.

"Naruto, as your father's sensei, I learned a few of his techniques. You already know the Hiraishin, but do you know his other... technique..."

Both Naruto and Hinata had extended their right hands and produced perfect Rasengans. I blinked.

"I see. Then I have something else that might help you. I am currently the only Toad summoner, but your father was one. Will you be willing to sign the contract? Having a toad summons will..."

"No."

Okay, that single word stopped me.

"No?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Toads eat insects. Having _that_ summons would put my other team-mate at risk. I would not do that to Aburame Shino."

I froze. He was declining? One of the three most prestigious summons contracts, and he was saying no? And what did this Aburame... oh. Right, he's teamed up with a bug-user.

Damn.

"I... see." I said slowly. "Well, the offer will remain open. How much have you learned?"

"I have access to the full Namikaze-Uzumaki library." Naruto said with a smile. "With Hinata's aid, I have managed to learn almost everything in both sets of clan-jutsu. That includes the Hiraishin, which Hinata has learned as well."

My eyes widened. Dammit, Minato had tried to teach it to me, but my control wasn't quite good enough for it. With the damned kitsune in his gut disrupting his chakra, how in Kami's name had Naruto managed to achieve the control required?

"Living with a clan who can see chakra proved very useful." Naruto remarked and I nodded in sudden understanding. The Byakugan would have allowed them to give him real-time feedback on his chakra state.

"So aside from the Rasengan, have you given any other jutsu to the Hyuugas?" I asked. Naruto smiled slightly.

"I have. I have given them the use of my father's Rasengan and knowledge of my mother's Chakra Chains, although none of the Hyuugas can generate enough chakra to create more than a dozen links at this time. Hiashi-sama has already instituted chakra-building exercises for the younger Hyuuga in the hope that they can integrate the Chain into the Gentle Fist or its variants."

"And how many links can you make?" I asked, curious. I had seen his mother use the chains once, creating a dozen chains each twice as long as she was tall.

"Currently, twenty chains, each of fifty feet." Naruto said and I fought to prevent my jaw from hitting the floor. "I am also training in my mother's Kenjutsu style."

Holy... He had mastered both of his father's best-known jutsu _and_ managed to outdo his mother.

And he had given the Hyuuga, masters at Chakra manipulation, two of those jutsu.

No wonder they'd arranged for him to marry the Hyuuga Heir. The debt they owed him must be huge!

No wonder he was marrying the heir.

* * *

.

I left the Hyuuga compound having learned about how he had managed to learn about his lineage. Pure, simple luck. A million-to-one chance of circumstances.

Lucky Gaki.

At Sensei's request, I agreed to keep a low profile. Although I had thought about teaching my godson a few tricks, what he had already learned would more than suffice to see him through the genin exams.

Kami, it would probably blast him through the Jonin test as well. Especially once he got some serious experience.

His refusal to sign the Toad contract was a potential problem, though. Oh, most ninja go through their lives without needing summons, but with Akatsuki after him, he could really have used the backup. And as far as I know, the Toads are the only ones who can teach the Sage techniques. I could only imagine what he'd be capable of if he learned it. A Kage would seem as a genin next to him.

Oh well. There's always a chance he'll change his mind. And if he learns to use the Kyuubi's chakra as well… wow. Just wow.

I just hope that he has enough time to learn should he ever discover he needs it. Life has a nasty habit of doing things like that.

Oh well, at least I'll be there for him. And this time, nothing will stop me from being there.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my research…

I'll pop by your training ground to see what your team's like tomorrow.

And I'll talk to 'kashi-kun. Too much lateness is not a good thing. Especially for a Jonin-sensei.

See ya!


	26. Chapter 26

"You really had tea with Princess Koyuki?" Tenten asked, her face expressing her surprise. Haku nodded with a smile.

"It was just before she headed back to the Land of Spring." He said. "She was upset at not being able to remain for the wedding, but Naru promised to Hiraishin her over specifically for the ceremony."

Tenten sighed. "I overheard your team mentioning that during the invasion, they were in the same shelter as her, but how did you meet her in the first place?"

"Haku wasn't the only one." Another voice interrupted and they turned to see a silver-haired chunin approaching, a new pair of giant shuriken on his back. Tenten grinned.

"Have you had a chance to test those out yet, Mizuki-san?"

Mizuki nodded, one hand almost-absently caressing one of the shuriken.

"I have indeed. They are brilliant, better than my old set. Sharper, slightly lighter, better-balanced, more stable… whoever made them is an absolute genius. Was it you or your dad?"

"Me." Tenten half-whispered with a blush and Mizuki bowed deeply to her.

"Then from this day onward, I am going to buy all my weapons from you. With my new nickname, I need the best weapons I can get, and the ones you make are just that."

Haku grinned at the richness of Tenten's blush.

"I think you are embarrassing her."

"Oh, shut it, Ice Demon." Mizuki laughed.

"Ice demon?" Tenten queried and Mizuki grinned.

"The first mission that Haku and I did together. Haku, why don't you start?"

"So, I provide the setup and you tell about the mission?" Haku laughed. "Very well. It actually started for me with a D-rank mission…"


	27. Haku

My team and I had accepted a D-rank mission, helping to clean the grounds of the Namikaze Mansion. The job itself was done fairly quickly, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon had piled into their tasks with gusto.

I was on drinks-cooling duty.

Not that I minded. It was a hot day, after all.

I smirked as a senbon arced out of the undergrowth, spearing one of the leaves. An instant later, the thin string attached to it pulled it and the leaf back into the undergrowth.

"I can't believe you made them practice their stealth with this mission." Naru grinned, looking round for any sign of the trio. "They've improved, Haku. You've done a good job with them."

I nodded, noting a slight flash of movement and making a quick warning hand-signal.

"Thank you. They have become quite precious to me, and I would not like it if any lack of instruction on my part led to them being hurt in the field. It is only a shame that I will not be the one to lead them in the field, they will become Genin several years before I can rise to Jonin."

"I'm sure that whoever gets them as a team will be thanking you every day." Naru said, glancing round. "Did I just see movement by the tree?"

I made another hand sign and a senbon arced through the air to land at my feet. Picking it up, I looked at the etching on it.

"Udon. Not bad, though. How much movement did you see?"

"Just... something. Nothing that would have been suspicious had I not know they were there, though."

"Then it will not count towards the final tally." I said, placing the senbon in a pocket so I could return it later. "I see the value of the D-ranks, although when I first encountered them, I was amused. Finding lost pets for tracking practice, babysitting for learning how to deal with difficult clients who need protecting, cleaning areas for stealth practice and demonstrating the need for attention to detail, shopping trips for courier missions... good ways of gaining experience without danger. No wonder Konoha is so strong. By the time Genin reach the field, they know how to deal with many situations."

Naru nodded, then whistled.

"What did I miss?"

"Someone just used seven senbon to spear nine leaves simultaneously." Naru said, awe in his voice. "Seeing what you've taught them, I'm glad I never had to go up against you in the field."

I made a sign and snagged the resulting senbon from the air.

"Moegi. She is indeed gifted with the senbon, they are a perfect weapon for her since she wishes to learn to be a med-nin. That reminds me, how goes your training?"

"I've learned a few new tricks from ero-sennin." Naru said, causing me to have to fight down a chuckle. Jiraiya had found out the hard way that I'm a boy, he had tried to spy on me while I was swimming and when I got out of the lake, the shock had caused him to fall out of his tree.

Naru and I haven't let him live it down since.

"I'll look forwards to seeing them in the finals."

Naru nodded, then took a deep breath.

"Haku, I was hoping that you'd do me a favor. We have a mission for the next few weeks, with my Hiraishin, we'll make it back before the finals, but Shino won't be able to work well where we're going. I was hoping you'd be willing to substitute for him, he's already agreed to look after your squad if you agree, or I can always ask another chunin to take care of them for you."

I hid a smile. I'd been wanting a chance to watch Naru in the field.

"Of course. What and where?"

"Land of Snow guarding the main actress of the new Princess Gale movie." Naru said. I couldn't hide my grin, I love those films.

"You couldn't keep me away." I admitted with a chuckle. "Land of Snow, huh? I might pick up a few new Ice jutsu."

* * *

.

I stared at Kurenai-san, then my glance flickered across to Sarutobi Asuma, who was hovering protectively by her side whilst trying (and failing) to appear casual.

"I am sorry, but why will you not be leading this mission?"

Kurenai and Asuma exchanged a long glance, then Kurenai placed a hand protectively on her abdomen.

Ah.

Oh my.

Her mumbled "I'm pregnant," was almost unneeded.

I nodded slowly. "I assume you've already told Naru and Hinata? Have you decided who will lead the mission in your absence?"

Kurenai shook her head and I thought hard. We needed a Jonin. Gai… too energetic. Kakashi… too lazy. Good when things go to hell, but still, too lazy. And perverted. Ebisu? Heck no. Way too uptight. Anko? Well, I could work with her, but she's not a full Jonin…

Hmmm, those were some of the better Jonin and…

Wait.

"I have an idea." I said slowly. "I think I know who could lead in your absence…"

* * *

.

In my opinion, the laughter was not needed.

I had expected the wide eyes, the thoughtful expression, the queries as to the state of my sanity and the reasons for my choice, but the laughter?

That was irritating.

"Dad, please stop that."

Zabuza slowly stopped laughing and straightened up to give me a very amused look.

"So, you wanted someone to protect Kujikaze Yukie in a few days time and you thought of _me_ of all people? I'm proud you think so highly of your old man, but has your Hyoton scrambled your mind?"

"Who better to stop assassins than an assassin?" I pointed out and dad slowly nodded his head.

"Alright, son. I'll do it, but _you_ are the one who is going to act as primary liaison. I'm just too rough and ready, you know all that diplomatic garbage. Anything else?"

"Well, for the money being paid, I was thinking maybe we should add another chunin to the team, just in case. Preferably a shuriken or kunai expert, as it is, the team is rather limited in combat range."

Dad nodded slowly.

"Yeah, a ranged type would be useful. Even your senbon are limited in distance. I'll put your request forwards to the old monkey. That your team trying to sneak up on us?"

I looked at where he'd pointed his thumb and smiled.

"I see the academy has finished for the day. Dad, thanks. Squad 1, on me."

* * *

.

"Of course I will."

Konohamaru and his friends started leaping around with joy once Kurenai's statement registered.

"Wow! Naru's sensei has agreed to take over while Haku-sensei is away! We get trained by a Jonin, that is so cool! Ummm, we're not saying you're not great, Haku-sensei, 'cause you are great and you're really cool, but…"

I chuckled at Konohamaru's complete and utter failure to try and extract himself from his verbal mis-step.

"It's alright, Ko-kun. I understand, who in their right minds would turn down the chance to be trained by a Jonin, especially one as talented as Kurenai-san."

Konohamaru almost wilted in relief, much to our amusement. "Thanks Haku-sensei. You're the greatest."

I gave him a slight nod, then turned back to Kurenai, whose eyes were dancing with suppressed mirth.

"I have trained all three in projectile weapons, especially senbon which take the most control, as well as stealth, battlefield medicine, chakra control and a few other tricks. Moegi is a budding med-nin and ranged expert, Udon is a natural at traps and tactics while Konohamaru is a mid-to-close-range fighter. In skill terms, I would place them at low chunin at this time. I haven't taught them about genjitsu yet, so…"

Kurenai nodded. "Of course. At the very least learning to detect and dispell it is vital for any ninja. While you're busy, I'll run them through a few exercises."


	28. Mizuki

I had accepted a mission from the Hokage to join a team assigned to protect the actress Fujikaze Yukie during the filming of her newest movie in the Land of Snow. The team was led by non other than Momochi Zabuza and I would be working alongside his son, Haku. However, it was the other two members of the team that made the mission possible.

Hinata, as the team's Kunoichi, was tasked with close-in protection. Not only did she know the Jyuuken variant 'Ripple Fist', she also knew the Rasengan as she had demonstrated in the preliminaries, making her a very powerful defender.

The final, and in many ways most important, member of the team was Namikaze Naruto, who I knew from his academy days as Naru. The son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Red Hot Habenaro, Naru was master of both the Rasengan and the Hiraishin, and he was the key to the whole mission.

Yes, he was also the Jinchuuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune, but that was not a problem for me. Yes, it was one in the past, but after several long talks with my best friend Iruka, as well as a few talks with various Jonin and even the Hokage, I came to finally understand and accept the difference between a scroll and the kunai sealed within it.

Iruka can explain it better than me.

I admit, I once hated the boy for what he contained. Like many of the ignorant morons, I saw not the boy, but the fox.

Thank Kami that Iruka managed to show me the reality of the situation. I hate to think where my thoughts would have led me otherwise. I might even have defected had I gone any further down that mental slope.

I owe Iruka a great deal.

We met at the Namikaze mansion and Naru used some clones to Jump us to where we were needed. As we walked into town, we barely managed to dodge a horsewoman racing the other way.

"Naru..." Hina said slowly, "Wasn't that Fujikaze?"

"I think so, and I felt a tag on her." Naru said slowly as a number of people on horseback thundered past. "I'll get her."

"Use clones." Hinata commanded and Naru nodded. He created two clones and they vanished in a flash of golden light. A second later, he winced.

"Okay, my clone appeared _beside_ the horse and hit the ground. Let me try again."

A dozen clones appeared and vanished. A few seconds later, Yukie appeared out of nowhere, looking both panicked and confused. Zabuza reached out and firmly gripped her shoulder.

"Fujikaze Yukie, we are the ninja assigned to safeguard you. I am team-leader Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist. The others are my son Haku, the Demon of Ice, Namikaze Naru, the Golden Flash of Konoha, Hyuuga Hinata, the Moonlight Princess and my second-in-command Mizuki, the Shuriken Maestro."

I smirked at hearing the nickname Zabuza had given me. I was indeed a master with the large shuriken I carried on my back, using them as blade, shield and projectile as the situation called for.

Yukie looked at us blankly.

"Naru can teleport you to safety at any time." Zabuza said. "He and Hinata will be your primary guards, Mizuki, Haku and I will cover the perimeter. Any questions?"

Yukie remained blank-faced and Zabuza nodded.

"Then all we need do is find your manager and we can get started. Any idea where he is?"

* * *

.

It turned out that the manager and most of the stagehands/other actors had been the ones in hot pursuit of Yukie. When they realized what we had done and the ramifications thereof, they were amazed and asked for a meeting with Zabuza.

When he emerged from the meeting, he was both irritated and amused.

"Change of mission. Turns out that they were hoping to have us aid with overthrowing Yukie's uncle, who killed her father in order to seize control of the Land of Snow. He thinks that she has a key to a special treasure and will stop at nothing to kill her. The cost has just gone up. Naru, Jump Yukie and me back to your mansion, Hinata, meet us there. I need to talk to the Hokage about backup. I've always wanted to overthrow a tyrant, and I missed my chance against Yagura. Haku, Mizuki, for now you will stay with our client."

No, I don't know the story behind that tyrant comment either. If you want to know, ask him yourself…

Heh, thought you wouldn't.

* * *

.

The plan we evolved took full advantage of Naru's Hiraishin skills. The samurai-in-exile under the command of Asama Sandayu, her manager and Samurai bodyguard, sent one of their number to Snow with a Hiraishin and instructions on how to activate it. After a week, the tag pulsed and Naru used his clones to transport almost a hundred samurai.

And a dozen ninja, including myself.

The target? The castle belonging to the tyrannical Daimyo Kazahana Dotou. We appeared in the dungeon under the castle. Huge area, built into the sides of a natural ravine. Hundreds of cells, very depressing place.

Loads of prisoners, most of whom were only guilty of remaining loyal to Princess Koyuki.

Instant reinforcements.

I led the charge out of the dungeons. The first dozen of the castle samurai fell to my shuriken and Zabuza's sword before they had a chance to react. Their armour was tough, but I'd sharpened my shuriken blades specially and targeted the areas between the armor plates.

My nickname of Shuriken Maestro might have been newly-bestowed by Zabuza-san, but no-one can claim that I didn't prove myself worthy of it that day.

By the time we reached the throne room, the castle ninja had rallied and were proving… diverting. Although nowhere near our level, they still managed to injure several of us and even killed a few of our samurai allies. But we managed to seize the castle.

No sign of Dotou-teme, though. Or his three elite guards.

Once the fighting had died down, we opened up the audience hall and brought in representatives from the city below so that they could witness Princess Koyuki take her rightful position on the throne. All the samurai knelt before her beauty and the town leaders were overjoyed to see her.

"My beloved people, it has been far too long since I have last felt the warmth of your welcome. I have been away for too long, have let you suffer under the tyranny of my uncle for too many years.

"I can only hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me."

I hid a smile as several of the townsfolk started to say that there was no need for forgiveness for she had done nothing wrong, and then things went to hell.

The upper window shattered and four shapes swooped down. My reflexively-thrown shuriken decapitated one of the flanking figures, Zabuza's thrown blade stabbed straight through a second and the third impacted on the ground, her wings encased in ice courtesy of Haku.

But the fourth figure, Kazahana Dotou, managed to grab Koyuki and retreat back out of the window, carrying her off.

Exactly as planned.

What? You think we hadn't realized what he was after? He wanted the necklace she was wearing, apparently it was the key to the greatest treasure in the Land of Snow.

And besides. It wasn't Koyuki.

Did you really think we were that stupid?

It was Anko.

When we had discussed the possible use of a body double, Anko volunteered. She was close to Koyuki's size and a genjutsu applied by Kurenai made the two of them seem like identical twins.

And Anko had an ace up her sleeve.

Her Hiraishin tattoo.

It took several hours of waiting before Naru and Hinata reacted to Anko sending the signal, and we were ready.

Kami, were we ready.

Naru used a score of clones to transport us to where Dotou-teme and Anko were waiting. As soon as we arrived, we spread out ready, much to Dotou's shock. Iruka took position by Anko. With her involved, there had been no way that he would be left out, after all.

Dotou was firing off an odd form of black-ice dragon-jutsu at everyone. Although it was a powerful attack, it was easy to avoid and it seemed to be the only one he really knew.

I guess he had got too used to relying on the chakra armor.

The attack was hard due to his dragon-jutsu, but I managed to smash part of his chakra armor, embedding one of my shuriken into his backplate just above his kidney and the other cracking the control gem on his chest.

Wow, that stuff was tough.

It slowed him down enough for Naru and Hinata to pull out their own trump card. Naru focused as much Chakra as he could, and Hinata shaped it into a giant Rasengan.

That was astonishing. It is almost impossible to shape another's chakra without first absorbing and altering it. Even med-nin need to refine their chakra in a specific way in order to be able to perform co-operative medical jutsu. So for Hinata to be able to shape Naru's chakra into an attack that powerful?

And without relying on a ritual?

If I had any doubt about the two of them being meant for each other before, that display would have ended it.

And then they charged forwards and rammed it into Dosou.

He never had a chance.

The multicolored Odama Rasengan would have killed him. The impact was enormous and it sent him slamming into one of the stone-and-ice obelisks lining the valley, coincidentally causing the shuriken in his backplate to fully impale him.

And then his armor exploded.

What was left was little more than a charred pile of ashes and bone fragments.

And I was down one Shuriken.

Blast.

Naru brought Koyuki to see the remains of her uncle, then she walked across to a pedestal with a depression exactly the right size for her necklace. Taking off her necklace, she placed the jewel into the stone.

What happened next, I will never forget.

I could _feel_ the natural chakra surging through the area, and the monoliths starting to react to it. The sheets of ice covering them cracked and collapsed and the temperature rose rapidly. Within mere seconds, most of the snow was gone and the wave of natural chakra that flowed across the land caused the long-dormant plants to bloom into life.

It was beautiful.

Just… beautiful.

The real surprise was that her father, who had overseen the installation of the device, had incorporated an image-player which projected a hologram of a young Princess Koyuki talking about what she wanted to be when she grew up.

I was sure that wherever her father was, he was looking down and smiling.

* * *

.

With the revelation that the long-rumoured treasure was a special chakra-based device designed and built to free the Land of Snow from the everpresent sheet of white that gave it its name, Princess Koyuki promptly decreed that the country would abandon its old name and take a new one.

The Land of Spring.

The Samurai who had kept faith with her during her exile were installed as her guards, while the few ninja ho had done the same were asked to set up a proper hidden village along the same lines as Konoha.

She had apparently had a large number of discussions with the Hokage about what to do after regaining the throne.

In addition to that, she declared that the Land of Spring was allied with the Land of Fire, specifically with Konohagakure, and that the ninja who had participated in The Liberation as it was rapidly becoming known as were from that day onwards citizens not only of Konoha, but of the Land of Snow as well, welcome to visit at any time without issue.

We all got our pictures taken with Princess Koyuki, she even signed them for us. I have mine on the mantelpiece in my living room. In return, I presented her with my remaining shuriken, still scorched and dented from when it had impacted against Dotou's armor.

She hung it on the wall of the main hall just above a picture of all of us.

I'm almost as famous as Naru and Hinata over there.

Afterwards, she took Naru and Hinata aside for a quiet conversation. I managed to overhear only a few words, including 'Honeymoon' and 'eternal gratitude'. I guess she was siving them a special reward for the fact that it was their technique that actually killed Dosou.

We left after the feast, with Naru's clones Hiraishin'ing us back to Konoha. I thought at the time that I wouldn't see her again, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw her sat in the Kage's box at the finals.

She looked wonderful.

Being a Daimyo is what she was born to be.


	29. Chapter 29

The council chamber was silent as the occupants looked at the three in front of them. Seated on an ornate chair was Princess Koyuki with Maito Gai and Nara Shikamaru flanking her, both standing at attention, although Shikamaru had, in a manner which confused most of the council, somehow managed to combine it with his trademark slouch.

"…so I present to the council the esteemed Princess Koyuki, Daimyo of the Land of Spring." Sarutobi finished. "As it will aid in the council deliberations, she has agreed to relate her experiences of what happened during the exam finals."

"And Gai and Shikamaru are here because..?" enquired Inuzuka Tsume, her voice filled with honest curiosity.

"After Princess Koyuki's recitation of events, Maito Gai will provide us with his testimony about the battle within Konoha, then Nara Shikamaru will provide us with his insight into the Jinchuuriki incident which occurred at about the same time." Hiruzen stated. Tsume nodded and settled back in her seat.

"Are there any questions before we start?" Hiruzen inquired. After a moment of silence, he turned and bowed.

"Princess Koyuki, the floor is yours."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Koyuki smiled. "Honored Hokagi, Honorable Elders, Respected Councillors, Valued guests, my story begins just prior to the start of the actual finals..."


	30. Koyoki

After the liberation of the now-renamed Land of Spring and my coronation, flanked by the ninja of Konoha who had proven instrumental to my reclaiming my father's throne, I decided that I needed to do something to show my appreciation.

As the new Daimyo of Spring, I decided to officially visit the Land of Fire, starting with the Village Hidden in the Leaves. At the same time, I would be there to watch the finals of the Chunin exams, and see both Naru and Hinata be promoted as they so richly deserved.

Naru, being the wonderful young man he is, offered to loan me the use of the Namikaze estate during my visit, specifically one of the guest houses that he reserved purely for my use every time I choose to visit.

If he wasn't already taken, I'd be tempted.

It was amazing seeing him practicing. His father was known as the Yellow Flash, well, Naru is the Golden Flash. And Hinata… well, I can see why she's called the Moonlight Princess.

Not that I got much chance to see him practice.

In the few days before the exams, apart from when he Jumped me back to Spring to ensure that everything was going as planned, Naru arranged for me to be given an escort. Haku I already knew from the mission, but what I hadn't realized was that Haku was a team leader…

Sorry. A _Squad_ leader.

The trio of kids under Haku were all nice. Haku was kind enough to explain why academy students had formed teams, and I saw several other squads during my stay, all performing missions meant to help train them for the missions that include the possibility of danger.

And they helped to keep Konoha a nice place. Whoever came up with the idea was a genius.

* * *

.

The day of the exams dawned and Hiruzen himself escorted me to the arena, seating me to his left. To his right was a veiled man he identified as the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

Something about him seemed… off. No, that wasn't hindsight, I'm a trained actress, remember? The Kazekage's body language seemed wrong. Commanding but… covert. It's hard to describe.

When the Hokage introduced my presence to the crowd, the applause and cheering was truly overwhelming. I still don't know how, but within seconds, I saw at least a hundred banners with my name or face on them.

At some point, you'll have to tell me how. I'm no ninja, I have _no clue_ how it was possible.

When the chunin-candidates entered, I frowned, there were only seven of them. The Kazekage noticed as well.

"Hokage-san, I see my two but only five from leaf. Where is the Uchiha boy?"

I sighed in relief. I had been right, the familiar blond down there hand-in-hand with the dark-haired girl was indeed my young hero, Naru.

"I'm sure he'll show up for his match, Kazekage-sama. He's the third match and if his sensei causes him to be late, we'll simply swap around the last two matches to give him more time."

Below, the contestants had finished being lectured by the proctor whose name I had missed and all but two of them were leaving the grounds, heading up to a balcony. The proctor toggled his microphone.

"Match one, Temari no Sabaku of Suna and Nara Shikamaru of Konoha. Begin!"

My eyes widened as the girl used her fan to unleash several attacks that slashed through the space where the boy was standing, only for a bisected log to fall to the ground, leabing no trace of where he had gone. A moment later, a shadow extended itself from the trees and lanced towards the girl, only for her to leap away.

"How..?"

"The Nara clan are genius-level ninja renowned for their ability to manipulate shadows, and can take control of their enemies using them. Shikamaru is considered a genius within the clan, which should tell you quite a bit." Hiruzen explained with a kindly smile. "Kazekage-san, can you tell Princess Koyuki a bit about _your_ kunoichi?"

"My daughter is a wind maestro who can create cutting winds and other attacks with ease." came the response. "She specialises in area-effect attacks and plans ahead quite well."

"Two tacticians against each other." Hiruzen mused as the girl dodged another shadow and launched a wind-blade in response. "This fight will be subtle… ah. It's over."

I blinked and watched as the girl, her shadow speared by a black line, dropped her fan and started to walk forwards. From the trees, the boy emerged and walked forwards, the girl reluctantly copying his movement.

"He used a kunai and his shirt to boost his shadow, letting him take control." Hiruzen said, and then his eyebrows lifted in shock.

"I forfeit."

It was the boy.

"I planned over two hundred ways to win, but my chakra is almost depleted and it would just be too troublesome. So I forfeit."

Well, that was unexpected.

The second match was one of the two I was really looking forwards to.

"Match two, Rock Lee and Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, both of Konoha. Begin!"

As Naru's name was announced, I could feel the shock from the audience while the Kazekage jolted in his seat.

"Namikaze-Uzumaki? Does that mean?"

"That he is the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the Red Hot Habenaro?" Hiruzen laughed. "Oh yes, indeed."

Back in the arena, Naru was flickering between the Kunai he had thrown, pausing only to deploy groups of clones that moved rapidly to engage the green-clad boy. A pair of craters held the leg-weights of the boy Lee and he was moving in a blur so fast that I could only tell where he had been from the popping of the clones, then a veritable ball of clones formed and Lee came flying out, leaving a trail of blood. Hitting the ground, he remained motionless and the clones dissipated.

"How did he do that?"

Hiruzen shook his head.

"I caught a glimpse through the clone-mob, Naru or one of his clones henged into a naked woman briefly. Lee was… unprepared. That is a truly devastating attack. I wonder how he thought of it?"

I blushed. That prank I pulled on him after he had restored my country had indeed come back to haunt me.

No. I'm not telling. And if anyone else asks about it, I will ensure that the film that Kakashi and Jiraiya want me to do will never be made, and you can face _their_ wrath.

So there.

Naru teleported back to the contestants box as the medics took Lee away, his face and front still speckled with blood, and Hiruzen frowned.

"No sign of him yet… and many came to see him fight. I guess I have no choice, Proctor, match four."

Two figures walked out and I smiled at one of them.

"I heard they're team-mates." The Kazekage said slowly and Hiruzen nodded.

"They are. They know each others moves, their strengths and weaknesses, it should be interesting."

"Match three has been postponed. Match four, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata, both of Konoha. Begin!"

Shino instantly unlatched his bandoleer and threw it at Hinata. I grinned.

"Nice, he stopped her from using the Hiraishin tag in his bandoleer against him."

Both Hiruzen and the Kazekage stared at me, then they turned their attention back to the field where a swarm of bugs was heading for Hinata. As they closed in, she vanished in a flash of silver and reappeared on the other side of the field.

"I… see." Hiruzen smirked. "Naru left his kunai behind on purpose for her to use. I wonder if they agreed in advance, or if it was a _spur-of-the-moment_ thing."

"She knows Hiraishin?" the Kazekage asked, his voice shocked.

"It is one of the techniques that she learned from Naru." Hiruzen said as Hinata flickered around the arena in a series of silver flashes. "She also knows the Rasengan, as does most of the Hyuuga Clan, but Hiraishin remains a Namikaze-clan technique."

"But she is a Hyuuga…"

"They're getting married after the exams. Naru and Hinata, that is." I interjected. "When I found out, I asked if she needed a maid of honor, but apparently the position had already been filled by her sensei."

Back on the field, Shino had sent out his bugs in a series of arcs, causing Hinata to teleport in a near-random pattern. Appearing close to him, she made a movement and a glowing chain lashed out and wrapped around Shino's neck. He froze, then raised both hands in surrender.

"That was… was…"

"A Chakra Chain, yes." Hiruzen said. "That was the other technique gifted by Naru to the Hyuugas. One Namikaze technique, one Uzumaki technique."

The only response was a shocked silence as the Proctor confirmed Hinata's victory and Shino retrieved and donned his bandoleer. Just then, two figures, one a tall man with silver gravity-defying hair, the other a boy with dark hair in an odd shape, appeared in a fountain of leaves.

"Are we late?" the man asked nonchalantly.

"Had the match not been delayed, Sasuke would have been disqualified." The Proctor half-snarled. "Now get off the field so your student can fight."

I watched as the silver-haired man vanished in a swirl of leaves, and then a red-haired boy appeared in a spray of sand, glaring at the dark-haired boy.

"Match three, Gaara no Sabuka of Suna and Uchiha Sasuke of Konoha. Begin!"

The proctor leapt backwards and Sasuke threw some shuriken at Gaara. The red-head didn't even move, but the sand billowing around him like some sort of strange animal batted the projectiles away.

"Gaara is a sand-user." The Kazekage said as Sasuke dodged the tendrils of sand lashing out at him. "His mastery of sand allows him to use it as both defense and attack simultaneously, leaving no openings to be exploited."

"It must take a lot of chakra, though." Hiruzen mused as Sasuke unleashed a series of fireballs which turned some of the sand into glass before smashing through it and kicking Gaara in the face before retreating again.

Gaara looked shocked, then he pulled the sand in on himself, vanishing into a sphere. As Sasuke approached, the sphere suddenly fired some spikes at him, causing him to retreat halfway up the wall, holding his right hand in his left.

Then his hand started to glow.

"Chidori…" Hiruzen breathed. "Kakashi actually taught him _that_ move?"

Sasuke's hand was suddenly enveloped in electricity and an odd noise filled the air. A second later, he started to run down the wall, accelerating rapidly. Blurring across the field, he slammed his lightening-encrusted hand into the sphere before it could produce its defensive spikes.

For a breathless moment, all was silent.

Then the sphere started cracking. Sasuke threw himself away from the sphere, his hand trailing blood which I could somehow sense wasn't his, then a warped sandy paw burst out, clawing at the earth. A moment later, the sphere collapsed.

Oh dear Kami.

Gaara had changed. That was the only way to describe it. Half of him was a sand-demon, something resembling a Tanuki, and his scream was filled with insanity.

I confronted my uncle, as many of you know. I know what insanity sounds like.

And then everything started to get blurry. I saw something like white feathers falling from the sky and I felt tired, so tired. I saw the Kazekage grab Hiruzen and pull him away and my eyes drifted closed…

"KAI!"

A wave of… _something_ went straight through me and I jolted awake to see Naru and Hinata standing in the middle of the arena. Naru stood as if he had just used a jutsu, as indicated by his yell, and Hinata was moving through a trio of ninja that were trying to attack, sending them to the ground injured or dead. Around me the sound of fighting rose, then Naru created several dozen clones which ran to engage the attackers.

One of the clones landed by me.

"Yukie-hime, boss sent me to get you to safety. Please stay where I send you until the fighting dies down. It should only be a few hours."

I nodded and the clone placed his hand on my shoulder. A second later, I was stood in his underground Hiraishin map-room.

No, I won't give you any more details. He made sure I didn't know where the entrance was. He may have blocked it off so that Hiraishin is the only way in or out. I don't know.

"Where are we?"

I looked round and smiled. Naru had saved more than me from the battlefield. With me were Squad 1 and a girl I recognized as the Hyuuga Heir, Hanabi.

"We're safe." I said with a smile. "Now settle down, Naru and Hinata are going to deal with all the bad men."

I was right. And although I didn't see any of the battle, I knew that Naru would prove himself.

And if you don't approve his promotion, I'll personally recruit him to lead the Hidden Village I plan to found in Spring.

So there.


	31. Gai

The finals of the Chunin exams were a wonderfully youthful display of skill and agility, even though only one of my cute students made it to the finals, as did one of my eternal rival's students. Both of us had one of our students forfeit in the preliminaries, mine because he truly respected the one he had been matched against, Kakashi's because she was in love.

The fight between Lee and Naru was truly spectacular. My youthful student was able to almost match the Hiraishin's speed, although had the arena been larger, he would not have been able to. He was able to negate Naru's use of shadow clones by capitalizing on their greatest weakness, it takes one hit to dispell them.

Then Naru did something that knocked Lee out. He explained to me afterwards that there was no way he could defeat Lee in a straight fight. Lee was too fast for him, and too fast for Naru to use his Jutsus on, so he had to resort to a most unyouthful trick to succeed.

Orioke no Jutsu. A technique he developed as a joke.

I have seen the technique, and am training Lee to fight blindfolded so that he can never fall victim to it again.

The next fight was interesting and by the time it finished, Lee had recovered and joined Tenten and myself in the audience in time to witness the fourth battle.

The sand-user was a most unyouthful adversary, eager to kill while my eternal rival's student was arrogant, relying perhaps overmuch on his Sharigan. Nevertheless, his Intercepting Fist was almost flawless and his mastery of the fire Jutsus was admirable, especially his ability to use it to negate the sand defense.

Then _it_ happened.

He managed to injure the sand-genin and then used the Chidori to pierce the sand barrier protecting the boy. What was released from the sphere was nothing less than a Jinchuuriki, the One-tailed Tanuki!

I know about Jinchuuriki, my team and I encountered the seven-tailed one on our mission to the Village Hidden in the Waterfall last year. She was a very nice girl, albeit rather lonely.

Maybe I should visit her again and invite her to Konoha. As another Jinchuuriki, I think she might find her flames of youth fanned greatly if she and Naru meet.

The fight had exhausted the sand-Jinchuuriki, though, and his siblings managed to pull him from the arena, obviously intending for him to recover before attacking Konoha in a most unyouthful fashion. At the same time, a Genjutsu was released, covering the whole arena and sending almost everyone into a deep sleep.

It was then that Naru proved just how powerful his flames of youth were. He Hiraishin'd to the center of the arena. As Hinata blocked those who tried to strike him down, he created and unleashed a chakra pulse that must have covered all of Konoha and several kilometres of the surrounding countryside.

The most unyouthful Genjutsu was destroyed in an instant and the pulse woke up all who had fallen asleep.

The Sound Ninja who had launched their attack seemed rather upset by that.

Briefly.

Within moments, my eternal rival and I had accounted for most of the enemy-nin, both Sound and Sand, with my cute students showing their youthful passion for battle as they defeated the rest. I noted that the Sound ninja were mainly low-chunin rank, almost battle fodder, while the less-numerous Sand-nin were more of a challenge.

It was then that Neji asked the question.

"Sensei, what is that purple barrier up there?"

* * *

.

Kakashi and I joined the Anbu outside the barrier. It was a powerful one anchored by four Sound-nin. The first could almost have been an Akamichi, the second had four extra arms, the third was a woman with a flute tucked into her belt while the fourth had an extra head, of all things.

A moment passed and we were joined by the most youthful Haku and his father, Zabuza. Zabuza nodded.

"I've seen something like this before. It's almost invulnerable as long as all four hold it. Take one out, the barrier starts to flicker. Take two out, it falls."

"Yeah, but you cocksuckers are out there and we're safe in here." was the most unyouthful response of the woman. Haku frowned, then smirked.

"Father, I have a plan."

"I'm listening."

"I'll capture this one for interrogation afterwards. You take down the large one as he seems to be just the muscle, and the least valuable. Gai-san, if you could take down the spider, Kakashi…"

"I agree." My rival stated, running across to face the two-headed one. The Anbu who were lined up outside the barrier crouched ready to spring as I took up my position, glancing over to see what Haku was doing.

"Before we begin, I am Haku. May I know the name of the one I am going to defeat?"

"Name's Tayuya, you fucking retard." the woman snarled. "And I have no fucking clue what you are planning but it… hey, what the fuck? What's going on?!"

My eyes widened as the woman was rapidly encased in ice. A moment later, the barrier started to shimmer, then it collapsed as Zabuza swung his sword and beheaded his opponent. Even as the other two tried to recover from the backlash of the collapsed jutsu, I moved, delivering a dozen Goken strikes that cracked the armor of the spider-boy and knocked him out. I looked up in triumph, only to see that my eternal rival had matched my feat, having encased his opponent in a water prison. I turned back and…

Haku was gone.

Tayuya was sprawled on the ground, surrounded by broken ice. She was breathing, but she wasn't going to be waking up for a while. I looked round for my most youthful colleague…

And saw him vanish into one of his ice mirrors, which had risen in a dome around the shape of a familiar traitor.

Orochimaru.

There was no escape from him. Hokage-san was stood beside one of the gaps of the dome, unleashing jutsu after jutsu. The Anbu were doing the same while Zabuza had engaged one of the Anbu who had tried to slash another across the back. Haku himself was blurring between the mirrors, firing senbon at Orochimaru.

Zabuza fell back, his leg cut open and I moved to engage his traitorous adversary. My new opponent used a variant of the med-nin style, with chakra scalpels projecting from his hands.

No challenge.

My first strike broke his left arm, my second his right. The follow-up sent him into the air, where I kicked him away from Orochimaru and into a wall.

He got up, his arms almost healed.

Med-nins can be most unyouthful opponents.

By this time, Kakashi had rendered his two-headed adversary unconscious and joined me, his Hitai-ate raised to show his Sharingan eye. We did not need to speak, we had been rivals so long that we knew how the other would act.

My feint distracted the rogue med-nin long enough for Kakashi to launch a brace of shuriken. As the med-nin dodged, I delivered a roundhouse kick that sent him flying…

Straight into the Rasengan that Kakashi was charging forwards with.

He never saw it coming.

We later identified the corpse as the genin who had gone missing in the Forest of Death, the one Ibiki wanted to talk to.

I wonder what his name was.

Oh well.

By the time we had defeated the traitor, Orochimaru was dead as well, proving no match for the Hokage and the youthfully skillful Haku. His corpse had been impaled by hundreds of metal and ice senbon, dozens of kunai and shuriken and then frozen, burned and broken.

All that was left was ash.

Good riddance to that most unyouthful monster. Konoha was better off with him gone.

It was then that I realized that Naru and Hinata had vanished. As I started to search for the two paragons of youthfulness, I saw something that almost made my heart fail.

Outside the defensive walls of Konoha, was a giant tanuki made of sand.

The Ichibi.

The one-tailed Biju had been unleashed upon Konoha!

The moster started to lash out, and then something happened that gave me hope. A chain appeared, a chain made of chakra, and wrapped around the monster's neck. A second chain lashed out, snaring its paw, and a third and fourth, and the Ichibi was soon entangled by a veritable net of chakra chains. A moment later, a silver flash appeared on the head of the sand monster and the creature began fragmenting, falling apart and returning to the sand from which it had sprung.

Naturally, I had to see what had happened.

Gathering all my youthful energy, I raced towards the devastation left behind by the monster. On my way, I passed an area which gave me pause as it contained what looked like the burned-out remains of a giant seal array, surrounded by over a dozen bloating Sound-nin bodies.

I still have no idea what that was about, or who defeated them. Maybe Jiraiya-sama will be able to find out.

When I reached the battlefield, it was to find Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru standing guard over the three Sand siblings. To one side, Sasuke was lying unconscious, next to a barely-awake Sakura.

Both were injured.

Shikamaru told me about the battle, and Kakashi and I escorted the Sand-nin back to Konoha. As to what happened out there, I leave that to my youthful friend Shikamaru to relate. It is a tale worth listening to!


	32. Shikamaru

Troublesome.

I don't suppose it can wait until tomorrow?

…

I thought not.

…

When the Genjutsu was cast over the arena, I watched as Gaara's siblings grabbed him and pulled him out of the arena. I guess Orochimaru didn't want him to rampage close enough to put his battle with the Hokage at risk.

Troublesome traitor.

Sasuke promptly went after them and Kakashi sent Sakura to get me to help him. As we left, Naru dispelled the genjutsu with a really powerful chakra pulse.

And I mean _powerful_.

Shino joined us at that point. The Aburame clan are the natural enemies of the Puppeteers of Suna, Kankuro would have had no chance against Shino.

Temari would be troublesome, though. I had fought against her once, and we both knew what to expect.

Gaara was the real wild card. His sand was lethal, and I felt that I had not seen even a fraction of its true capabilities in a combat situation. Assuming the information that Kabuto had provided was accurate, Gaara was possibly a Kage-level shinobi.

Or a Jinchuuriki.

As we pursued them, I found myself comparing Gaara and Naru. They both had an aura of… something, they were both very strong, had powerful skills… and Naru was a Jinchuuriki too.

I sighed, wishing he was with us.

Shino heard me.

"What?"

"Just a troublesome thought." I said. "We might need Naru for this."

Shino gave me a long look, as if questioning my intelligence.

Then I remembered his fight against Hinata. He had thrown away his bandoleer and its storage seals, and Hinata had looked both amused and irritated, as if he had denied her an easy win.

His bandoleer had a Hiraishin tag in it.

He could summon Naru at any time.

Troublesome.

I cursed myself for not getting one of those bandoleers. In retrospect, the effort would have been worth it.

I decided that if I survived, getting one would be the first thing I did.

* * *

.

When the group of Sound-nin tried to ambush us, Shino used his tag to summon help and Hinata appeared, along with a clone of Naru. I used my shadows to immobilize the enemy, then Hinata Jyuukened most of them while Shino drained the rest.

They did it without words. Their teamwork was most impressive.

The problem arose when Kankuro attacked. Shino requested more Naru-clones before dispelling the one with us. A moment later, a dozen more Narus appeared. Two came with Hinata and myself, the rest remained behind to deal with with Kankuro.

Hinata used the pause to pass me an odd Kunai.

"If you need reinforcements fast, throw this at your enemy. Naru will do the rest from there."

Hinata's words proved almost prophetic as Temari tried to block our path. Hinata began throwing kunai in all directions and using Hiraishin to dodge the troublesome blond's attacks while I continued in pursuit with the final Naru clone.

We were close.

Then we emerged from the forest into an area of total devastation just as Sasuke was sent flying into a nearby tree. Sakura was already out cold, trapped beneath a fallen log, while Gaara…

Was laughing.

"Mother wants your blood, Uchiha, then the blood of the Namikaze, then Mother will dance in the blood of Konoha!"

Troublesome. And disturbing.

I looked at the Naru-clone.

Shino had placed a reinforcement request before dissipating a clone and a dozen had appeared. That meant that when a clone got dispelled, the original got the memories.

No wonder he was on a recon team.

"I need original Naru here as soon as possible." I said. The clone nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Three seconds later, Naru appeared and promptly made a dozen clones.

"You have a plan?"

"Not much of one." I admitted. "Get Sasuke and Sakura to safety and somehow defeat Gaara. I'm still working on that part."

Two of Naru's clones sprinted to the fallen forms of Sasuke and Sakura and grabbed them before vanishing in golden flashes.

That was very convenient.

"Nooooo! Mother wanted to drink his blood! Now I will kill you! You will die and I will prove my existence as Mother drinks your blood!"

That was _not_ very convenient.

Naru sacrificed at least a half-dozen clones as Gaara lashed out. If not for his clones sacrificing themselves by Kawarimi'ing with me whenever Gaara was about to trap or flatten me, I would have died several times over.

I have already planned out my advanced training to improve my speed and agility as fast and efficiently as possible, to avoid another such troublesome situation.

It was when I saw one of his clones using a chakra chain to temporarily restrain a sand tentacle that a plan started to form.

Of course, Gaara just _had_ to make things even more troublesome.

Troublesome redhead.

Realizing that Naru had somehow matched his combat level, Gaara used a strange jutsu to put himself into a deep sleep.

For a few seconds, I couldn't work out why he had done such an obviously suicidal thing, then it happened.

The Ichibi, Shikaku, appeared.

At this point, I must point out that facing a five-story bloodthirsty tanuki made out of sand is not something that I find to be remotely pleasant.

In fact, it was a real drag.

However, it helped me to finalize my plan.

I just needed one detail.

"Naru, can you send a clone to Hinata? Tell her that when I throw the kunai, I need her to use it, wake up the red-head and jyuuken him so he can't move. Got it?"

One of Naru's clones grabbed another and they both vanished in a burst of yellow.

Odd. Obviously I didn't fully understand how Naru's Hiraishin worked.

I've had a talk with him about it. I understand now.

"Okay, now what?"

"Net him!"

Naru created almost a hundred clones. At any other time, I would have considered that to be an astounding feat, but our adversary had kind of overwhelmed my ability to be amazed. The clones dashed round to encircle the Shikaku, and then they started to fire chakra chains at it. Some of the chains wrapped around its limbs, and the clones had to use the tree-walking skill to stop the Ichibi from hauling them into the air, while more of the chains speared straight into the sandy tanuki.

While the Ichibi was distracted, I ran straight up a tree. For my plan to work, I needed to get as high as I could.

When I reached the top of the tree, I halted, gathered my strength and threw the kunai as hard as I could at the small figure half-embedded in the tanuki's forehead. The kunai embedded itself barely a meter away from the comatose boy.

And nothing happened.

For what seemed like an hour, time stopped. I had miscalculated. I had thought that Hinata could dodge for long enough that I could set things up here. Maybe the clone had distracted her at just the wrong time, or Temari had defeated her like she had defeated Tenten at the preliminaries.

My blood froze.

My plan had failed. Naru was losing ground, he couldn't hold out much longer.

I took a deep breath and was about to call for him to fall back so that I could come up with a new plan when…

She came!

In a flare of silvery radiance, she appeared like an avenging angel! Her moonlight eyes glowing, her body poised and perfect… Kami. No wonder Naru was so in love with her.

I wondered if there was someone like that for me.

In a move so perfectly executed that it looked like it had been rehearsed, Hinata lashed out with a thin chakra chain, wrapping it around Gaara's chest, then retracted it, ripping him out of the sand monster. As he flew towards her, her other hand slammed forwards.

The slap echoed like the breaking of the world.

Naru was already moving. Even as Hinata appeared, he was running up one of his clones chakra chains. Leaping into the air, he caught Gaara and vanished, appearing on the ground and pushing Gaara away from him as Hinata appeared, her hands striking with blurring speed as she removed from Gaara the ability to move.

I made a mental note. Never piss off the Hyuuga.

With a despairing wail, the Ichibi collapsed into a billowing pile of sand and I turned my attention to Gaara, who was lying on the floor, half-supported by Naru.

"…how did you beat me?" he whispered. "How are you so strong?"

"I am strong because I am one link in a chain." Naru stated. "It is the Uzumaki way. A single link by itself is useless, worthless. But when it connects with other links, it becomes part of something greater, something stronger. And the link is strengthened by the others.  
"I have my precious people. I protect them and they protect me. And by doing so, we become stronger. We care for each other, and in doing so we prove each others existence and our own. We help each other grow stronger, we raise each other up and in doing so, we ourselves are raised.  
"It is the Uzumaki way. The way which forms the basis of Konoha's Will of Fire.  
"That is how I am strong. That is how _we_ are strong."

For an endless moment, Gaara stared at him, then he spoke.

"Caring for others makes you this strong? All this time, have I been wrong? I killed to try to prove my existence…"

"You exist. I recognize your existence." Hinata said gently. "Your sister recognizes it. While you were fighting, she was crying for you. When I disabled her, she begged for mercy, not for herself, but for you."

"But… Temari never cries…" Gaara muttered.

"For you, she does." Hinata replied softly. "She cares about you. She cares for you. She is scared of what you might choose to do, but she loves you. You just need to accept her love and return it."

"Temari… cares… for me...? She was… crying… for me?"

"Yes. She does, and she was. What more proof of existence is needed?"

"Gaara!"

I looked round at the pain-filled cry and saw Temari dragging herself into the clearing, her legs dragging along the ground. A moment later, Kankuro appeared, bruised, beaten and bloody, obviously not victorious, but alive.

"Gaara!"

"Temari… Kankuro… I… I'm sorry…"

The look on their faces was indescribable. Even for me.

But I knew that the battle was won.

* * *

.

Naru used his clones to carry those of us who couldn't make it back to Konoha where we found the battle to be over. The news that Orochimaru had killed and taken the place of the Kazekage saddened the sand trio, but apparently he had not been a good father and his choices had led to Gaara's… personality issues.

The temporary ruling council of Suna agreed to pay reparations to Konoha and sign a new treaty of mutual defense, with regular visits by a chunin from each village to the other in order to ensure that communication between the two villages remained unobstructed.

We also learned that Suna had joined Orochimaru because the Wind Daimyo had quarreled with the Kazekage and sought revenge by giving Konoha missions that Suna should have got, thus costing Suna a great deal of money. That was obviously something that needed to be fixed as soon as possible to prevent a re-occurrence. In addition, we would have to deal with the Sound village at some point. Although Orochimaru was deceased, finally, someone else could conceivably take over and cause trouble for us.

My suggestion that we let Naru and Gaara lead the attack when it happens was actually considered one of the better ideas in that regard.

You all know the rest. Naru's contacts in Wave mean that we already have a workforce on the way to help rebuild the areas of Konoha that were damaged. Princess Koyoki has agreed to sell us basic Chakra Armour to boost our elite forces, starting with our Anbu. And the new Mizukage has sent a message offering an alliance now that the civil war in Kiri is dying down.

I hadn't realized that Zabuza-san had made contact with her. I guess it was part of the deal which led to him becoming one of Konoha's Jonin.

I guess that's it. Can I go now? This meeting has turned into a real drag.


	33. Chapter 33

Hiruzen looked round at the council and nodded slowly.

"Now that you all understand what happened and why, I can continue, hopefully _without_ pointless interruptions. It is clear that Naruto's actions are the sole reason that Konoha still stands. His allies who he brought into the village, the skills he has learned and in some cases taught, his own actions and achievements during the aborted invasion, including the chakra pulse which fried the summoning arrays that the Sound-nin were trying to use to summon Manda's kin and his ability to restrain and defeat the one-tailed jinchuriki without relying on his own… burden, all of these prove he is indeed a capable shinobi.  
"So. Regarding the Chunin exams themselves, I am promoting Nara Shikamaru for his tactical skills and willingness to sacrifice himself for the mission, Hyuuga Hinata for her bravery and mastery of advanced jutsu and Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto."

A blast of Killing Intent silenced the protests before they could even begin.

"Furthermore, I will personally oversee the long-planned marriage between the latter two. Konoha's Golden Flash and Konoha's Moonlight Princess will be linked in matrimony as they both desire. And I think most of you will not be invited. Well, definitely not the civilian council, maybe the clan heads given my final decree.  
"Under the terms of the Clan Re-Integration Act, I confirm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto as the clan head of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans. At his suggestion, Naruto will take a seat on the council as head of the Namikaze. I have already instructed Jiraiya to have his spies keep a sharp eye out for any survivors from the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, with luck we can rebuild the Uzumaki clan as well. Or if that fails, we can split it off the Namikaze in a few generations. I further confirm Naruto's claim to the Namikaze estate, including the wealth therein and the money linked to it. I would just note that this makes him the richest person in the village by a very large degree.  
"On a different note, I am recommending that Aburame Shino be transferred to team 10 to take Shikamaru's place. With his promotion, team 10 will need someone to fill the gap, and Shino has proven himself to be a superior strategist, albeit not quite on a level with Shikamaru. I am also placing a note in his file recommending that an eye be kept on him regarding his future promotion prospects as he has a great deal of potential.  
"Finally, I am going to step down as Hokage. Jiraiya has already left to find my replacement, Tsunade, Naruto and Hinata will join him when he finds her in order to bring her back so that she can take up her position. I am sure that as soon as Naruto is old enough, she will hand the hat over to him. With any luck, I'll be there to see it.  
"Now, is there anything else? No? Good. Meeting adjourned. I have a long-planned wedding to oversee."

* * *

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The celebrations echoed around Konoha as almost all the shinobi and most of the civilians toasted the retirement of Hokage Tsunade and the appointment of the new Rokudaime Hokage, the youngest Hokage in the history of Konoha, and possibly the most powerful.

One person, however, was on a special mission.

Notebook stowed for easy reach, Jiraiya had used the festival and the party to sneak into the Namikaze grounds and position himself in a tree that gave him a view of the main bedroom. A gentle smile formed on his face as the door opened and two familiar people entered, the new Hokage, shedding his formal robes and hat, and his gorgeous wife, the internationally-renowned Moonlight Princess, who was fussing over her husband and forcing him to hang his robes up rather than simply drop them on the floor.

"Well, Gaki, you did good." Jiraiya whispered to himself. "Full circle, as a Shinobi you're an adult and I did this to your parents, now it's your... what the?"

A brief golden flash illuminated the bedroom, leaving it empty.

"Damn!"

* * *

.

Jiraiya perched on the tall tree, maintaining his invisibility jutsu as he looked over at the waterfall where Naruto and Hinata were talking. Activating a small seal that he had hidden in the area the previous day, he listened in to their conversation.

"...the old pervert was right, this is a nice place."

"Maybe," Hinata said, "But I still feel like we're being watched. Maybe we should..."

The pair vanished in a flash of golden light and Jiraiya started to grind his teeth in frustration.

* * *

.

Jiraiya crept out of his hotel room and took to the rooftops of Suna, moving towards the Kazekage's mansion. Hiding across the street, he watched as Naruto and Hinata bid the slightly-older Kazekage goodnight, then they left the living room. Shifting his gaze, Jiraiya smirked as the couple closed the door to their bedroom behind them, then his reflexes took over and he flung himself backwards as a cluster of sand tentacles snatched for him. As he rolled back to his feet, the Kazekage appeared, standing on a pillar of sand.

"Errrr... hello, Gaara. Nice night for stargazing, isn't it?

"You tried to spy on those precious to me, Jiraiya. Although I will not kill you, for you are one of my brother-the-Hokage's supporters, I shall make you regret your actions this night."

Jiraiya didn't even bother wasting energy cursing as he ran away from the spiked sand tendrils that were aiming for his most prized possessions.

* * *

.

"I can't believe anyone could be so cruel!"

"Quit complaining." Tsunade said as she tried not to smirk. "You had to do it, didn't you? You know how Princess Yukei feels about Hokage Naruto, so trying to spy on him in the Land of Spring? What were you thinking?"

"But now there'll never be an _Icha Icha_ movie!" Jiraiya sobbed into his Sake.

* * *

.

Jiraiya looked at the bundle that had been placed in his arms. A small pair of blue pupil-less eyes gazed up at him with newborn curiosity and he smiled back.

"Cute sprog, Gaki. Decided what to call him?"

"His name is Namikaze Minato, after his grandfather." Hinata said from where she was resting on the bed, Tsunade and Shizune fussing over her as she held Naruto's hand. "You can come in now, Konohamaru."

The door opened and Konohamaru peeped in to reassure himself that it was safe, then he entered, followed by the rest of his team.

"I'll be back for Minato in a few minutes, I need to get Tenshi-hime some sunlight." Naruto said and as Hinata giggled at his nickname for her, Naruto summoned several clones... and Hinata, Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune and the bed all vanished in a golden flash.

"What the..?" Jiraiya muttered as he realized what had just happened. "Did they just leave me holding the baby?"

"You don't hold him like that." Jonin Haku said with a smile, reaching out. "Hold him like this."

Moegi almost passed out at the cuteness of Minato's sleepy little frown. Jiraiya smiled down at the new life in his arms.

"Dammit." He half-moaned. "Now I need to become respectable for a while. Life just isn't fair."

"Fun, though." Haku said.

Jiraiya couldn't disagree.


End file.
